Yakusoku
by kaligoddess
Summary: Can Ami and Nephrite overcome the past to build a future together? PGSM based. Sequel to A New Day
1. Chapter 1

AN - This is the censored version of the story, because of the the submission guidelines here. You'll have to visit my archive to read the story with all chapters included.

---

Ami felt more than a little stupid, teetering about in a pair of borrowed high heels and the pink monstrosity of a dress that Usagi had managed to convince her to wear to the wedding. It was weird to feel so awkward in her own skin, but she knew she looked a lot different than the school girl that Nephrite was fond of. On the other hand, Nephrite looked a lot different than the awkward part-timer that Motoki had hired.

He stood before her, in the shade of the trees around the chapel, waiting for her to say something after she had announced she wanted to talk to him. In the background she could hear the excited chattering of her friends, but they might as well have been miles away, seeing as they were so oblivious to what she was up to.

_Say something, anything!_ she urged herself. Nothing was coming to her, and she was feeling dumber and dumber by the moment as they both stood there in silence. Now that she had a chance to talk to him, she couldn't say anything.

His bright, blue eyes were watching her with a mixture of confusion and interest as she proceeded to try to avoid looking into them by watching the sky, the grass in the breeze, his cape, her own feet... As the seconds ticked by, she stared down at her toes with greater intensity. Finally, Nephrite spoke tentatively. "You wanted to talk to me?" he prompted her.

"Yes..." she studiously observed the cracks in the pavement of the path. "I... just wanted to, um, say thank you."

"Thank you?" Ami looked up as Nephrite spoke. He didn't look like he had any idea of what she was talking about.

"Yes, for saving me. From Kunzite," she swallowed loudly. The conversation was beginning to feel like pulling teeth as they stood in silence.

"Oh, that," It was Nephrite's turn to look away, although Ami wasn't sure if it was embarrassment she caught in his eyes. "I try not to think about any of that."

Mentally, Ami slapped herself. _Why did you have to bring that up?_ "I'm sorry." _I remind him of a crappy period of his life. Fabulous. Why don't I start talking about how horrified he looked when he stabbed himself in the stomach as well?_

Nephrite's annoyed sigh broke through her thoughts. "Don't worry about it."

_Two sentences and I've already pissed him off. _She began to fidget with the ruffles of her dress as she tried to think of some neutral topic to talk about.

"You're welcome, by the way," his voice startled her again. A sardonic smirk twisted one corner of his mouth. "I was just doing it to return a 'favor'." Ami must have had a confused look on her face, because he asked, "You don't remember?"

"If it was something I did under the influence of Metallia, no." She had a feeling that her selective amnesia had more to do with the fact she didn't want to remember than her not being able to remember. "What did I do?"

"You goaded me into attacking you where you knew Kunzite was. That's what caused me to finally fall completely out of Beryl favor." Nephrite's eyes turned an unsettling shade of blue-black as he recalled the memory. "I owed it to him to make sure Beryl wasn't pleased with him either. Having him remember how badly he had screwed up every time he saw you was an added bonus."

Ami wasn't prepared for the sense of disappointment she felt. She hadn't been hoping for a different explanation, had she? "I see," she said carefully, keeping her eyes on the intricate clasps on Nephrite's uniform, rather than his face.

"Also, you-" Nephrite was cut off by another bout of screaming from the wedding guests.

Both of their heads swung to the noise. Mamoru was warming up with his motorcycle while the gaggle of girls surrounded Usagi.

"I've... got to go," Ami said with a sigh. She cast a surreptitious glance at Nephrite. He was shaking his head in complete confusion at the activities of the wedding party and paying no attention to her. She faked a cough. "I've got to go," she repeated, louder this time.

His expression was unreadable, "Oh."

There was another awkward pause.

"I'll see you?" it was impossible for her not to sound a little hopeful, even if there was no indication he shared the same sentiment. The answer she got was just a noncommittal grunt and another slightly confused look.

"What did he say to you?" Makoto asked again, sounding impatient next to her ear.

Ami shook her head violently to clear it. She shifted the phone to her other shoulder and picked up the fish food. Immediately her pets swam to the surface. "Not much really."

"Not much? I've been waiting a week to ask you. The least you could do is lie to me and tell me you're starting a passionate affair," Without seeing her expression, it was hard to tell if Makoto was really annoyed or just playing.

"With the way I keep secrets, do you really think you wouldn't have found out by now?" Ami retorted. She replaced the cover on the tank and flopped bonelessly onto the sofa. "We had the most awkward conversation I've ever had the misfortune of suffering through." Then she paused, remembering again. It had started to be less awful right before Usagi left. _What was he going to say?_

"Ami-chan are you still there?" Makoto asked.

"Sorry, sorry, lost in my thoughts again," said Ami. "Nephrite was trying to tell me something, but then Usagi started getting ready to leave and he never got to."

"Well there's something more than 'not much'." Ami could hear the excitement in Makoto's voice as she pounced on the tiny morsel of information. "Maybe he was planning to confess his undying love for you," she teased.

"Nothing so interesting, he was just explaining why he saved me from Kunzite," Ami laughed.

"I repeat, maybe he was confessing his undying love for you."

Ami smiled. Makoto just wasn't going to let it go. "He said got in the way because he wanted to piss off Kunzite."

"Duh. Kunzite was making a play for his woman." Makoto was definitely on a roll.

"I-" Ami searched her brain for a moment. She certainly didn't remember any romantic entanglements with Kunzite, but she didn't remember much of the period. Suddenly, she wasn't sure that the relationship with the strongest of the Shitennou had been purely "professional". She shuddered. "I don't want to even think about that."'

"Oh come on now, it's not like he was ugly or something," Makoto teased. "Actually it wasn't like any of them were ugly. I think Beryl might have been on to something."

"I always had the impression that she was stringing along at least Nephrite and Jadeite," she flashed back for a moment, just enough to get a mental glimpse of Nephrite, forlorn and hiding in some dark corridor of the Dark Kingdom. Had she really been cruel enough to bait him into attacking when he was in that state?

"And then she got greedy," Makoto was saying. "Why was everyone after Mamoru, anyway? Beryl, Serenity, Usagi... now Mio. Not that he isn't handsome, but I always thought that the Shitennou were better looking."

Ami was inclined to agree. "I think the fact he was the prince helped."

"Yea, but they're the shi tennou, there has to be something to that," Makoto said. "Not that it matters."

It didn't matter, of course, but Ami found herself intensely curious. Why were they the Shitennou? Was it a titled position? Did they inherit the position or did they have to earn it? Her memories of the past life just weren't strong enough to remember, and she wasn't sure that as a guardian of the princess of the moon she would know that much about the guardians of the prince of earth.

The more she thought about it, the less she realized she knew about the Shitennou. Were Kunzite, Nephrite, Jadeite and Zoisite their real names? It seemed odd that they were all named after semi-precious stones, but she didn't remember much about the naming systems of the earth and moon.

_No wonder I didn't know what to say to him. I don't know him at all._

"What was that all about?" Makoto asked.

"What was what?" Ami asked confused.

"You sighed," Makoto said.

"I was just thinking about the past life." Ami was careful to word it neutrally, but it did her no good.

"You know, you two could have been lovers in the past life," Makoto pointed out.

"With the animosity between the Earth and Moon, I doubt that," said Ami. She absentmindedly tapped on the glass of the fish tank, startling a goldfish.

"Well, that was only between the Earth and the Moon. What if the other planets were more friendly?" Makoto sounded thoughtful.

"You don't think we were from the moon?" Ami asked. Truth be told, she'd never really thought about it. They did have different ruling planets. If they were all from the moon, wouldn't they all be Sailor Moon? But the other planets weren't inhabitable. _Neither is the moon,_ she reminded herself.

In any case, trying to remember the past life was giving her a headache. Luckily, she was saved from having to think about it anymore by Makoto informing her that Motoki was back and she had to go. "We're supposed to look at churches today," she said with a dreamy twinge to her voice.

"Good luck with that," replied Ami, absentmindedly. The phone started beeping at her before she realized that her friend had hung up.

Yawning, she got up and headed for the small kitchenette. The time difference made calling each other hard because it was always an odd hour for someone. At least Makoto made an effort not to call at strange hours in the morning. Usagi never seemed to remember there was a difference at all and consequently she called at some of the most awkward times.

The refrigerator was barren as always. There were a few condiment bottles and a carton of milk, but otherwise the shelves were empty. _Cereal again_, Ami thought sardonically, writing a note to herself on the white board to go food shopping. It wasn't that she was putting off going shopping, but she spent so much time at the hospital that she mostly lived on take out and whatever she could pull from the vending machine. That and instant ramen. If she never saw another cup of instant ramen in her life she would be overjoyed. _ I really need to learn to cook._

---

"Where are you going?" Jadeite asked, poking his head into Nephrite's rooms without warning. The four guardians of Endymion had taken to inhabiting the sub-space that had formerly been occupied by the Dark Kingdom. While it allowed them to stay in constant contact with one another in case of emergency, it also allowed Jadeite to annoy him on a daily basis, much to Nephrite's dismay.

"None of your business," Nephrite grunted, chucking one of the cushions from a nearby chair at the blond.

Jadeite dodged the projectile with an easy grace. "You're not going to get rid of me that easily." He walked fully into the room and perched himself on the back of the chair before replacing the cushion. "Why are you going to Earth?"

"What makes you think I'm going to Earth?" Realizing that ignoring his younger companion was not going to work, Nephrite resorted to becoming surly.

"Um... the fact that you're in human form," replied Jadeite with a sarcastic smirk. "How come you still have your human form?" he pouted.

"I don't know. Probably because I was in this form and not dead when that stupid princess released the power of the Mystical Silver Crystal," the red General paused for a moment, then added, "If you hadn't been such a prick you probably would have saved your form as well."

Jadeite fixed him with a petulant stare. "I was being loyal."

"That doesn't make you less of a prick," Nephrite glared at his reflection in the small mirror on the wall. Why did his hair have to stick up so strangely in this form? He tugged a particularly recalcitrant tuft, but it refused to go where he wanted it to.

"Well, you haven't told Kunzite and Zoisite that you were leaving, you're going pretty much incognito and you don't want me to know where you're going. Obviously you're off to visit Mercury," concluded Jadeite.

"Its none of your business," Nephrite repeated, with a growl.

Jadeite snorted, "You don't have to be so touchy about it. I haven't even started to make fun of you yet."

"Is there a reason you're bothering me, beside for the sheer joy of it," Nephrite asked sharply, biting off each word.

"No that's pretty much the-" Nephrite teleported away before he could even finish the sentence.


	2. Chapter 2

AN/ This chapter is shorter than I wanted, because it's supposed to be combined with the next chapter. However, I know that if I didn't type this up now, I'd end up putting it off for another month. In any case, check out my profile. :)

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Ami paused, spoon still halfway to her mouth, when a loud banging on her door interrupted the otherwise quiet night. She contemplated just ignoring it, after all, who would be knocking on her door that late at night, but curiosity got the best of her. Whoever it was, they were insistent. _Must be a delivery person with the wrong number,_ she thought, threading her way through the living room furniture in the dark.

The view from the peephole wasn't informative. She thought she spotted a dark t-shirt, but the light outside her door was still broken. _They probably can't read the numbers on the apartments with just the streetlights._

_"_Who is it?" she asked, interrupting another round of banging.

There was a pregnant pause, as if the visitor couldn't decide whether or not to answer her inquiry. "Nephrite," was the answer at last.

Her cereal was completely forgotten as she struggled with the deadbolt and double locks on the door. After what seemed like an eternity, the last, sticky bolt turned and she flung the door open to the cool night air.

In front of her stood Nephrite, not as Guardian, but in human form. Although he remained physically the same size, somehow Ami found it difficult to find him imposing in civilian clothes. The fact he had his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his pants and he was staring down at his feet did little to help. No wonder she had been oblivious to his identity while he hid at Crown Karaoke.

His black hair was managing to stick up in ways that even the Minako would have been hard-pressed to recreate with all the hair product in the world. It looked so soft in comparison to the impossibly spiky style her normally wore and Ami fought back the urge to try to push a few of the strands encroaching on his face out of the way. Her breath caught as he stopped examining his shoelaces and looked her in the face. She had expected the deep black eyes she remembered from his time in Japan, but instead she found herself staring into bright blue.

"Do you want to come in?" There was a slight quaver in her voice that she hoped he didn't catch. i _Why am I suddenly going timid? /i _

As he moved past her to enter the apartment, she noted how tall her was when she wasn't wearing heels. The top of her head was just about level with his collarbone. Even when he kicked off his own sneakers she remained nearly a head shorter and she felt even smaller standing directly next to him.

She had to tilt her head at an uncomfortable angle just to look at his face. "So... what brings you to America?" she asked, searching once again for something to say.

There was a hint of pink to Nephrite's cheeks as he thought for a moment. "The others were starting to drive me crazy," he said. "And we got interrupted at the wedding..." He looked at her like he was seeking reassurance. "So I figured I'd come here before I throttled Jadeite."

At first, it didn't sound like it was a compliment to her company, but the more Ami thought about it... She remembered the way he would snap at Motoki and then calm down when she and the others would show up. No doubt she got away with things that his poor co-worker would have been beaten for. She even laughed at him once and he didn't even seem angry about it, while he yelled at Motoki even for the nickname he had been given.

While she had been thinking, he had wandered over through the dark to the light of the fish tank and was watching the fish circle with rapt attention. "You keep these as pets?" he asked, cocking his head to get a better look.

"Yes. They're a bit easier to handle than a dog or a cat and they don't mind being left at home all day," she answered. She walked over to join him.

"I've never quite understood the concept of pets. Why do people keep animals that you can't eat?" He seemed genuinely curious.

"I don't know. When you're alone I guess it is nice to have someone to talk to," Ami shrugged, then smiled at her aquatic friends. "You never kept animals?"

"None that didn't end up on the table," Nephrite said simply. He seemed fascinated by the tank and barely even glanced at her as he spoke.

"You didn't have any animals that weren't a source of meat ?" Ami couldn't imagine a life without any pets. Even as a little girl she'd always had a fish or two, to teach her responsibility her mother told her. Mostly she just liked watching them glide through the water and envied their ability to do so.

"Well, I had a mount, of course. But when he was too old to ride or stud, we fed him to the dogs." Ami was taken slightly aback at how calmly Nephrite said it. Somewhere the animal rights groups were probably gnashing their teeth.

"Maybe if you got a pet, it would distract you from Jadeite," Ami said hopefully, in an attempt to change the subject from dead animals.

A hint of sadness crept into Nephrite's voice, "I'd probably just get annoyed with it."

_That's the understatement of the century,_ Ami thought to herself, but remained silent. It was true though, she couldn't imagine him suffering through a high-strung dog or other attention-loving animal. He barely seemed to tolerate even attention demanding people.

"Does Motoki still have that stupid turtle?" Nephrite asked suddenly.

"Kamekichi?" Makoto hadn't mentioned anything about Motoki's prized pet lately, but it wasn't like the turtle did anything noteworthy often. "I guess he's still around."

"I hated that stupid beast so much," Nephrite frowned. "I used to have fantasies of flushing it down the toilet when Motoki went off and left me with another huge list of things he wanted me to do."

"You didn't seem too fond of Crown as a whole." It was the most diplomatic way she could think of putting it.

Nephrite snorted. "It was not my first choice for a job. Who would want to be the servant of obnoxious little girls?"

It was hard not to react to his word choice. Obnoxious? They weren't demanding, were they? Where did Luna get all their sweets, anyway?

Nephrite was still grumbling oblivious to her inner-turmoil. "And Motoki-baka could never remember my name!" His fists were clenched at his side in a gesture Ami remembered all too well.

"He is a little scatterbrained," she admitted. Truth was, Motoki would forget where he lived if he didn't have Makoto to organize his life. "Why did you stay? It was obvious that you were miserable." She knew she was fishing for a certain response, but she couldn't resist.

"Where would I have gone? I asked Endymion to take me back to the Dark Kingdom, but he wouldn't. I didn't have my powers. And I couldn't keep my eye on you all if I went someplace else." His fingers were clenching and unclenching as he spoke. "At first I figured that I would just kill you all so Beryl would take me back."

"Oh," Ami couldn't think of a response.

"Then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was absolutely miserable in the Dark Kingdom and I didn't have to worry about being back-stabbed in Tokyo. That's when I got depressed."

"You got depressed because you didn't have to spend all day looking over your shoulder?" asked Ami.

He turned to face her. "No, I was depressed because people were actually being nice to me, and I hated it. I was too afraid that I was being used again."

He looked so forlorn, Ami wanted nothing more than to give him a hug. But, the last thing she wanted to do was anything that would trample on his pride. Not when he was being so open with her.

Momentarily, she saw him again in the caverns of the Dark Kingdom. He was hurt, tucked away into a shadow, trying to hide how injured he was.

Her footsteps echoed down the corridor as she came closer. There was blood on his face, but it wasn't clear if it was his. An angry burn on one cheek led down to the singed trimming on his jacket. When he heard her, he looked up.

"Don't look," he croaked, unable to keep the pain out of his voice.

She gasped as she heard herself spit out some of the most venomous words she had ever heard.

"What?" he was again the awkward looking human standing in her dark living room. He was regarding her in confusion, and she absent-mindedly noted that his eyes seemed black now.

When she commented on it, he just shrugged, "It was probably the residual magic that made them blue. They're always black when I'm human."

Ami welcomed the chance to take her attention away from her disturbing memory. "You can change form at will?"

"Yes. We think its because I was human when the planet was reborn," Ami thought the corners of his mouth turned up just a little. "I suppose that's the one good thing about getting stuck at Crown."

"So you're the only one who can switch forms?" Ami asked.

"I think so...Jadeite tried, but he isn't all that great with magic, anyway," He shrugged again. "Its not really an issue for anyone else."

There was another long pause as Ami tried to come up with a topic that wasn't about dead animals or involved the horrible things she might have done as Dark Mercury. Then, it occurred to her that they were still standing in the dark. She mentally chided herself for being such a bad hostess and weaved her way around the furniture to the light switch.

When her eyes adjusted to the sudden light, she found Nephrite watching her again. He cocked his head to once side. "I thought you were taller for some reason," he said without preamble.

"What? No, I've never been taller," she stopped to think. "Well, my senshi uniform did have heels."

"Even at the wedding you looked taller."

"I was also wearing heels to the wedding." Her feet ached at the memory of the blisters she had from Ikuko-Mama's shoes. Nephrite still looked unsure, but said nothing. "So..."Ami continued, "speaking of the wedding,what were you going to tell me before Usagi left?"

He tapped a finger to his lips and looked to the ceiling. "I don't remember."

Ami suppressed a sigh. "We were talking about why you saved me from Kunzite." she prodded.

"Um," he scratched at the back of his head. "Well, it was mostly to get back at Kunzite. Abut I also owed you for fixing my cape."

It was hard to imagine Dark Mercury doing anything for anyone. Her surprise must have been evident, because he continued. It was after Sailor Moon awakened her full powers. I think the Silver Crystal weakened Kunzite's spell."

"I guess.. I'm just a little surprised that I did anything nice. All I remember are short spans and they're always ugly." Her stomach tightened in revulsion at her recent memory.

"Metallia has that effect," Nephrite said quietly. When Ami looked up, he said, "My cape got ripped when I tried to kill you."

Ami began to think that no conversation could possibly be as awkward as the one they were having. Even the human sexuality discussion she had with her mother had been detached and hypothetical. "If what I remember is true, an attack against me wasn't entirely unwarranted."

"You definitely were provoking me on purpose. I tried to cut you down, but Sailor Mars had already nearly toasted me, and Kunzite stepped in anyway. That's when Beryl finally cast me out," Nephrite admitted.

"You saved me even though Beryl was already angry with you?" Was that why Beryl had him killed?

"Like I said, I owed you a favor and wanted to piss off Kunzite," Nephrite said flatly. "It was probably for the best."

"For the best?" Ami repeated.

"If I were still loyal to Beryl, I may have been just as dangerous as Jadeite was in the end," Nephrite said.

Silence followed as Ami tried to let it all sink. How would things have changed?

When she glanced at Nephrite again, he was staring at his own feet. "I do a wonderful job at making all social situations painful," he mumbled.

"No, no!" Ami protested. "It's fine. I'm the one who asked about it." She reached possessively for him, like she was going to physically prevent him from disappearing.

He smiled wistfully. "Some things are better left alone. Even if it's still fun to bring up how much of an ass Jadeite was being."

It wasn't that funny, but Ami started to giggle madly. Nephrite cocked an eyebrow at her, but said nothing as she tried to stifle it. If she wasn't mistaken, there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

"I'm a little over-tired, I guess," she said with a sheepish smile.

"Maybe I should go," he suggested, already heading for this things.

i Damn /i ! She stubbed her toe badly on the coffee table as she rushed to catch up with him. He was in the process of wiggling his sneaker back on, and she had to fight back the urge to suggest untying them first. "You're welcome to visit me anytime," she said instead.

He nodded and went back to fighting with his shoes. After a series of hopping and stomping, he stood up straight and looked thoughtful.

"What?" Ami asked, but his answer was nothing that she was hoping for.

"I was wondering if I should just teleport straight out," he said. When he caught the puzzled look on her face, he added. "I didn't teleport in because I didn't know what you were doing. Surprising someone in their home isn't exactly polite."

The blush that crept its way onto her face made her ears burn. Being caught eating cereal over the sink by herself on a Friday night was the least of the embarrassing things he could have caught her doing that night. "I can see that. I appreciate the knocking first."

All she got was another nod, as he suddenly shimmered and disappeared. "Bye! Come back again," she told the empty space. When she was sure he wasn't going to reappear, she performed a giddy victory dance and went to dump her sodden breakfast down the garbage disposal.


	3. Chapter 3

AN - This is chapter 2 and 1/2

There was a brief pause as Ami contemplated the phone on the table next to the sofa. Mentally, she did the math. Was it too early to call Mako-chan? Did it matter? They were looking at churches... how long could that take?

She picked up the phone, hesitated, then put it down again. As excited as she was, part of her didn't want to tell everyone quite yet. Nothing major had happened, had it? They had cleared up some things that happened in the Dark Kingdom, but nothing had gone forward.

Plopping down on the sofa, she mulled the question over. They hadn't had a deep conversation, had they? There was no spontaneous declaration of love, no romantic words, no passionate embraces.

She sighed.

'He chose to come see you,' said the girlish part of her brain. 'He didn't have to.' Almost immediately, she perked up, latching onto the thought. He was under no obligation to visit, he had come to visit her, in the form her hated most, because he wanted to.

"He wanted to see me," he informed her fish, despite the fact they had witnessed the whole thing. She felt like she would burst if she didn't tell the news to someone. A girlish giggle escaped her lips, and she grinned like a lunatic.

Once the initial rush had passed, she sank back into her seat to replay the conversation in her mind. Her initial thought was partially true, they hadn't discussed any plans for the future. He hadn't even said that he would come back. 'He'll be back,' the girlish part piped up again.

No longer able to keep still, she jumped up to begin pacing the length of the room. Would he come back? She shouldn't have brought up the Dark Kingdom. Why would he want stay around if she insisted on discussing the painful past? Did she say anything stupid? The fabric of her pajamas creased as she bunched the hem in her fists.

The phone was calling to her now, and she nearly dove at it in her haste. She had to discuss this with someone or it was going to make her crazy, she knew it. One slim finger hovered over the keypad as she mentally ran though her options.

Rei? No, Rei would be too practical about it. She needed someone who would make her feel better, even if it meant some white lies.

Minako? Ami didn't actually know where the idol was. She didn't want to bother Minako if she were at work.

Usagi-chan? Well, Usagi would be optimistic, but her idea of advice was not always something that a rational person would take.

Mako-chan... Makoto would help her work through it. She seemed to be the biggest cheerleader of the whole thing, anyway.

Ami chewed her lip thoughtfully. Was it really too early? Then again, Mako-chan would probably be pissed if she didn't call immediately.

Around the fifth ring, Ami was beginning to wonder if her friend had turned the ringer off, but then Makoto's dreamy voice answer.

"Mako-chan! He came to see me!" Ami blurted out. A few seconds passed in total silence, making her wonder if she had called the wrong number after all.

"Oh. Oh!" Makoto finally responded. "When? Now? What happened?"

Ami tried to answer, but she could hear Motoki in the background asking who was on the phone. After a brief conversation, Makoto came back. "I'm so excited!" she giggled. Motoki says I'm grinning like an idiot."

"Me too," Ami admitted.

"So... what went down?" Makoto insisted.

"Uh... not much really," her face fell. _Why was I so excited?_

"You don't sound like 'not much' happened," Makoto said. "Did you ask him why he helped you again?"

"Well, of course. He said it was partially because I had fixed his cape for him."

"Aw... you even liked him then," Makoto cooed.

"No really. Apparently his cape was damaged after I mocked him to point that he tried to kill me," Ami said quietly.

"Well, you must have made it up to him. What? Oh, Nephikichi-kun. Yes. Ami," a loud 'I knew it' interrupted Makoto. "Sorry about that," she said.

"That's fine," said Ami. "Are you on the way to another church?"

"No, I'm all churched out. You can only look at so many before they look alike. We're going to eat." There was another pause. "And to get a present for Kamekichi's girlfriend."

Ami couldn't help but snicker. "A present? White Day isn't for a long time."

"It's her birthday," Makoto said simply. "But we're talking about your love life, not theirs. So, was their any hanky-panky going on?"

"Mako-chan!" Her ears were burning again.

"I was just asking," Makoto failed miserably at sounding innocent.

Ami humphed. "There was no 'hanky-panky' going on." She was still blushing furiously. "We were just talking."

"Okay, okay. I believe you. So when are you going to see him again?"

That was a good question. "I don't know. We didn't really talk about it."

"You let him get out the door without making him promise to come back?" Makoto sounded completely bewildered.

The look Makoto would have given her was easy to visualize. "I told him he was welcome to visit any time," she protested.

"That's not good enough."

"Yes'm," Ami replied meekly. "But he said the rest of the Shitennou were driving him crazy. He may try to escape them again."

"That's good," Makoto said. "He always did seem to calm down a bit when you were around." Motoki was talking again in the background. "Motoki agrees with me." There was more background conversation. "Aw, that's too cute."

"What?" Ami asked.

"Motoki said that Nephikichi-kun felt horrible that he couldn't pay you back for the cookies you baked them. And then he couldn't decide what to get when Motoki lent him some money," Makoto informed her.

"Ugh, those cookies were burnt. The only reason I passed the baking lesson in school was because of Naru-chan," Ami said. The idea that cooking was difficult must have been absurd to Makoto.

"As long as her likes your cooking, it doesn't matter," Makoto said brightly. "You could bribe him to come back with the promise of cookies."

"What, do you expect me to leave a trail of cookies from the Dark Kingdom to my door?"

"Hey, all is fair in love and war," replied Makoto. "Oh, Ami, I've got to go."

"Well have a good lunch," Ami said. "And buy something nice on behalf of Kamekichi."

"I will. You call me as soon as Nephikichi-kun comes back," Makoto said.

The phone slid back into the cradle with a quiet click. With nothing but the quiet bubble and hum of the fish-tank for ambient noise, the apartment seemed horribly empty.

A quick glance at the clock on the VCR showed her that it was way pat her normal bedtime. _I'm not ready for bed._ With a sigh, she flipped on the television and turned on the recorded drama Usagi sent her when she admitted to being homesick for Japan. Watching someone else struggle through their life made her feel that her own was just a little more manageable.


	4. Chapter 4

After grabbing all the document folders off of the passenger seat, Ami snatched up her purse and slammed the car door. She understood the reasoning behind holding the new procedure back until the risks were better understood, but it didn't make the setback any less disappointing. Her stomach growled loudly and she glared at it.

The lights were still out in the stairwell, and she wondered how long it would be until the landlord bothered to get them fixed. It had been over a month since her last complaint already. In the near dark, she tripped over the final step and sent her papers flying.

With a loud sigh, she started gathering the research reports and stuffing them violently back into the folders. Moments later, she was quite surprised to see another stack of documents being handed to her. When she followed the line of the thin arm back to its owner, she was doubly surprised.

"Oh, have you been waiting long?" she asked, accepting the offered papers.

Nephrite shrugged. The shadows his his expression. "Not too long. Its not like I have anything better to do anyway.""

Ami did her best to ignore the secondary meaning behind his words and said," I"m normally home much earlier. I just had a lot of stuff to take care of. " She stood up, straightened her skirt, and found Nephrite watching her.

"I guess it is the high heels," he said simply.

Ami smiled slightly. "You don't have to rub it in. I know I'm short." Her keys jingled noisily as she tried to dig them out of her purse with one hand. Without a word, Nephrite took the papers from her.

"What are these, anyway?" he asked, squinting his eyes in what little light there was.

"Research reports. We're looking into a new form of micro-surgery and bacterial therapy," she said.

"Sounds boring," he replied, sounding like he'd rather watch paint dry. Not that she blamed him, most lay-persons were bored to tears by the details of her work.

"Do you want to come in?" she asked. He followed her in, and she dropped her work on the counter as he shut the door. "Tea?"

"... yes, please." He was already heading for the fish tank again, and Ami smiled. Despite his protests, he seemed was was interested in companion animals.

"Maybe you should get a kitten," she remarked after a few minutes. When he turned to look at her, she continued. "Cats are fairly self-sufficient, they're usually not too clingy and you could train it to attack Jadeite."

He smiled slightly at the last part, but said, "I could just picture myself accidentally stepping on the stupid thing and feeling horrible about it. It might also eat Zoisite's birds."

That caught Ami's attention. "Zoisite has birds?"

"Yes," Nephrite said nonchalantly. "I think he likes their songs."

_That would make sense._ "What kind does he have?"

"Noisy ones." His answer was completely deadpan. "But it gives him something to do besides play the piano all the time. Kunzite finally snapped the other day and clipped some of the wires on the stupid thing. Zoi was pissed."

"Kunzite finally snapped the other day and clipped some of the wires. Zoisite was pissed."

"I can imagine." She poured the tea into two sturdy mugs and brought it into the living room, switching the light on as she went. "So what do the others do to pass the time?"

"Uh...Jadeite spends most of his time driving me crazy, and I spend a lot of time smacking him around, Zoi plays the piano constantly, and Kunzite likes to garden."

Ami stopped him there. "Gardening? In the Dark Kingdom?"

Nephrite smirked. "No, what grows there is not something anyone wants to exist. The Dark Kingdom doesn't really exist anymore, but some of the energy remains."

"So where does he garden?" Ami asked.

"He actually has a house in Tokyo from when he was living as a human. He gets to play in the dirt there and it's easier to keep an eye on Endymion that way." Nephrite paused and then added, "The place is a dump, but it keeps people from bothering to poke around it."

"You actually keep that close an eye on Mamoru?" They were protective of the Mamoru for sure, but the major crisis seemed to be in the past.

"Not normally, but we are now that we have to keep an eye on the Princess as well." He took a small sip of tea and winced.

"Sorry, I'm a mess in the kitchen," Ami apologized. "I've got sugar if you want it." Her mind wandered back to what Nephrite just said. The Shitennou were never concerned with protecting Usagi. Did they change their minds once she actually became the Princess of Earth?

Her thoughts were broken by her stomach rumbling loudly, reminding her once again that she hadn't stopped for supper. The tea wasn't going to satisfy her either. Likely there wasn't anything edible in the kitchen as well. _What a bad hostess I am._

"Do you want to get something to eat?" she asked, mentally running through appropriate food sources.

Nephrite seemed hesitant, but agreed

"So what do you like to eat?" she asked, but her companion only answered with a shrug.

Something familiar was probably in order. A confused and uncomfortable Nephrite was not something she particularly wanted in tow. There was a sushi restaurant nearby; the food was Americanized, but it wouldn't be too foreign.

Maybe they could order in. It would spare them the silly questions of the yuppies looking for something exotic and give them some privacy. She wasn't used to anyone being able to eavesdrop when she spoke Japanese, and the odd conversations they seemed to have would probably attract some unwanted attention.

She reached into the drawer of the side table and rummaged around for the menu and a pen. The food was promised to arrive in forty-five minutes and Ami turned back to her guest. He was still gingerly attempting to drink his tea and Ami choked back a laugh at the look of horror on his face as he took another sip.

When he realized she was watching, he put the mug down. "What are the other senshi doing?" he asked after a pause.

"Well, obviously you know what Usagi is doing. Makoto is working as a florist. Minako is working on a new movie, I think. Rei is in Kyoto again, studying. Her sixth sense is really developing." He seemed to be interested in Rei, so she continued. "Rei was actually the first one to sense Mio."

"She was always strong that way. She was the first one to really hurt me," he admitted. She might be useful if we run into any other problems."

"I hope you never need her. I think we've all gone through enough," Ami said quietly.

"Hmm, you all weren't truly born to be soldiers in this life. It's a burden for you."

The sudden bout of introspection surprised Ami. She blinked. "What do you mean?"

"None of you really liked fighting, not even Jupiter. You only attacked when you had to." Ami didn't like the feral glint in Nephrite's eye as he spoke. "I like nothing more than a good fight."

It was an interesting idea. Of course, they had been reborn to fight and they had been dragged by fate to protect the planet. But they all had other live, other dreams that ever the fate chosen by the past life couldn't extinguish. If it hadn't been destiny, would they have chosen to be senshi?

An awkward silence followed and Ami squirmed uncomfortably as it stretched on for minutes.

"I should have been reborn as a guard dog," Nephrite said, breaking the silence. "I was born to be a fighter."

She had no idea how to respond to that. "I don't know, I think I prefer you like this," she said finally. "You don't bite this way, for one thing."

"So you think," Nephrite replied, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

For a moment, Ami wasn't sure whether he was serious of not, but the corner of his mouth was twitching ever so slightly. "As long as you don't have any diseases, I suppose we're okay," she giggled.

A silence followed, broken only intermittently by giggles from Ami. "It wasn't really that funny," Nephrite said.

"I know." She took a deep breath. _I'm just so happy to see you._ "Low blood sugar will do that to you. Next time I will make us cookies to tide us over."

"Oh, very funny," Nephrite said flatly.

"What? You liked my cookies didn't you?" She didn't even bother to hide her teasing grin. He just shook his head and she marveled at the fact he let her laugh at him.

"I still owe you for the last batch," he said.

Makoto's words come back to her. "I'll tell you what, you come back tomorrow and we'll call it even."

The befuddled look on his face was priceless. "In order to pay you back for baking me cookies, you want me to come back and...eat more cookies?"

"Yes."

"And this makes sense to you?" he asked.

"I like seeing you," she admitted with a blush. Her gaze dropped to the table, and she picked up her tea to give herself something to do. Nephrite didn't comment though, not even when she nearly spit the liquid back out. "I can't believe you managed to drink this!" she sputtered.

"It wasn't that bad," he said. "I've had much worse."

"I-" The banging on the door drowned her out. "Coming! Wow, they're fast." She nearly threw the money at the delivery boy in her eagerness to get her food. Even the Styrofoam box was looking tasty.

It was a shame that all the Japanese-style restaurants catered so much to the American taste. The quality was fine, but it was hard to get any type of sashimi that was considered "exotic." Her co-workers' idea of exotic was Teriyaki chicken. It was enough to make her miss even Ikuko-Mama's cooking.

Nephrite was eyeing a large piece warily. "What is this?" he asked, poking it with his chopsticks.

"A 'king roll' eel, crab, tuna, shitake, carrot, avocado, radish and cucumber," Ami read off the menu. "Oh, and salmon roe."

With a shudder, Nephrite reached for a piece of tuna. Ami pushed the little plastic container of wasabi and soy sauce packets at him. "This will help."

They ate in silence until the smell of something burning sent Ami running into her cramped kitchen. The small cloud of smoke led her to the kettle on the still lit burner. Sheepishly, she filled the sink and dumped the kettle in before slinking back.

"I can't even boil water properly," she moaned. "Do you cook?"

"If you count instant ramen as cooking, then yes," Nephrite said. "I don't have to worry about it except in this form."

_No wonder he looks so skinny._ You should definitely come visit me more often then. It gives me an excuse to order in and not have to eat my horribly cooking."

Her guest just stared at her for a few seconds. "I'll come back if you want."

Ami was sure she was beaming like an idiot, but she couldn't help it. "I've never seen someone so happy to see me," he added, scratching at the back of his head.

"That's not a bad thing, is it?" she asked, trying to will the flush in her cheeks to go away. "So when will I see you again?"

She earned a half smile. "You are persistent. Not tomorrow, how about one week from today?"

"It's a date!" She grinned all the harder. "This time I'll try not to come home so late. Unless you've retained your affinity for hanging around in dark hallways?"

"No, I'm all right with being comfortable," Nephrite said.

Silence fell again, but Ami felt no need to break it this time. Idle chit-chat didn't seem to be either of their styles anyway. Slowly, he mind began to drift back to her last conversation with Makoto. Now her friend could stop nagging her about kidnapping Nephrite.

"What are you smiling about?" Nephrite asked.

"Just something Mako-chan said." Her smile grew wider. "Maybe she'll leave me alone now that you came back."

"She's been bothering you about me?" Nephrite looked taken aback. "She doesn't like it?"

"No, that's not it. It's the exact opposite, actually." He cocked his head and she continued. "She and Usagi have been threatening all sorts of insane plots if I wasn't going to chase you down."

"They...approve?" Nephrite asked again. He was still staring at her like she'd just announced she was pregnant with his baby.

"Yes. They do. Honest," Ami assured him. "I don't know what Rei or Minako think, but I don't particularly care," she added defiantly, but then amended, "not that I think they wouldn't approve."

"You don't sound too sure about that," Nephrite said, voice dropping dangerously.

She opened her mouth to reply, but then thought better of it. Judging by their reaction to Usagi and Mamoru, they weren't too keen on the idea. But this was different. She'd never destroyed the planet when she was upset, and the past life was over, wasn't it?

But the recent appearance of Mio brought her last question into new light.

"What?" Nephrite asked.

"No, it's nothing," she said, shaking her head almost violently. He clearly didn't believe her, but only popped another piece of sashimi into his mouth.

She chewed slowly on another mouthful, trying to turn her thoughts to something possible. When she couldn't distract herself, she enlisted Nephrite. "So, aside from beating up on Jadeite, what do you do?"

"Sit around and wait for minor emergencies," Nephrite said. "We are the guardians of the kingdom of Earth."

"Minor emergencies?" Ami prompted.

"Little things: rogue youma, vampires, undead, vengeful spirits," Nephrite said with a calmness that amazed Ami.

"Those are minor?" she asked.

"They rarely even require all four of us."

"How often does this happen?" asked Ami.

"Every few days. They've always existed; it's just the nature of Earth." He nonchalantly scooped up a blob of wasabi by itself and didn't even wince when he swallowed it. "The reason we didn't notice Mio immediately was because she didn't focus her power. Low levels of Dark Energy are not something we worry about."

"So basically there are 'naturally' occurring monsters popping up," Ami said. She knew it made her sound dense, but she didn't want to believe it.

"It's nothing bad," Nephrite shrugged. "They're not any worse than the criminals in human society. You could say we're the police of the supernatural world."

"Only you would say a resident youma infestation isn't bad." She shook her head. "I'm not even sure I want to think about it, anyway. I've got enough to deal with as it is."

"You won't have to," Nephrite said dismissively. He stretched his long legs in front of him and hissed. "They just don't make furniture for tall people." Now that they were finished eating, he had been fidgeting restlessly. She made a mental note to come up with something active for them to do the next time.

"We could go for a walk if you'd like," Ami suggested. I mean, there's not much around, but we don't have to be cooped up in here." Truth was she was just stalling for time with him.

"Okay." The answer wasn't entirely enthusiastic, but he didn't off another suggestion.

After grabbing a light jacked, Nephrite insisted he was fine without one, the two headed out into the crisp autumn air. While the moon wasn't completely full, it cast enough light that between it and the houselights, the flashlights Ami had taken proved necessary.

They followed the curve of a side-street up a hill and past the entrance to the local university. Ami pointed out that the two towering buildings connected by a skywalk that housed the university hospital she did her research in. Somehow Nephrite didn't seem impressed, but he nodded politely when she said something. She wasn't even sure he was really listening to what she was saying.

As they watched the parking lot, an ambulance came flying through the parking lot, sirens blasting. "I hope it's not too serious," Ami said absentmindedly before continuing.

They were just passing a patch of evergreen woodland that separated the student parting from the street when a sudden shiver shot up Ami's spine.

"What was that?" Nephrite asked, and she realized she had come to a complete halt.

"Just a chill," she said with a forced smile. The sense of unease she felt was immediately forgotten when Nephrite slid one arm around her shoulders and let her lean against him. He was on the alert though and she watched silently as he scanned the surrounding area.

"Hmmm...I guess the wind just picked up," he said finally, but didn't relinquish his grip on her.

The rest of their walk was much less eventful and ended up with Nephrite telling Ami about the last practical joke that Jadeite played on Kunzite. She was still giggling when they climbed the stairs back to her apartment.

"Are you coming in?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. If I don't head back soon, Jadeite will start making off-color comments."

"All right. Remember, you promised to visit again in a week," She tried to hide her disappointment with a smile.

"I know. I'll be back, I promise," he said. Then, with a glance to make sure no one else was in the hall, he shimmered and disappeared.

As soon as he was gone, Ami headed in to call Makoto and report.


	5. Chapter 5

"What are you grinning about?" Dr. Lyons asked as Ami handed him a stack of manila folders.

"Oh, nothing," she replied, but the grin remained.

"So it has nothing to do with the fact you're cutting out early?" her co-worked pressed. He winked one blue eye at her and said," Don't worry, everyone is allowed to get excited about a hot date once in awhile."

She smiled demurely. "How do you know I'm not just happy about the latest test results?" she asked.

"Most people don't get a haircut for test results. Now, don't stay up too late, we have an early meeting tomorrow," he chided her.

"Yes mother," said Ami. Her stack of papers was rapidly filed in the cabinet and she slammed the drawer shut with satisfaction. "I'll see you tomorrow," she called over her shoulder as she headed to the staff room to gather her belongings.

It took quite a bit of effort to keep her mind on the drive home. She had given herself just enough time to hop into the shower and change her clothes before she thought Nephrite would arrive. Her work was thrown haphazardly at the coffee table as she rushed through her apartment to the bathroom.

The new outfit she had bought made her pause as she checked herself in the mirror. It was much lower cut that she was used to and she tugged awkwardly at the straps. _Maybe I shouldn't wear it._ She was still debating when there was a loud knock on the door. _Too late now._

As he came in, Nephrite handed her a small package. "I bought these for you," he said quietly, not quite looking her in the face.

"Thank you," Ami said, but the gift was forgotten immediately when she caught of the bandage peeping out from under his long sleeve. She reached for his injured arm. "What happened?"

"Don't worry about it," he said, drawing his arm back. "It's just a little bite."

She couldn't help but notice how stiffly he was holding that side, but knew better than to press the issue. She wouldn't get a straight answer and he'd probably just end up angry. To change the subject, she picked up her present again and pulled off the string holding it shut. Inside the paper wrappings was a small, elegant teapot and two bowls decorated with swimming koi.

"They're beautiful," she exclaimed and tried to hug him around his uninjured side.

"I had a little help picking them out," he admitted.

She placed them carefully on the kitchen counter. "Hopefully I won't ruin them by serving awful tea again. Even the prettiest dishes can't improve my cooking."

"It's really not that bad," Nephrite said with a sigh.

"Oh, you haven't seen me when I really get going. Even Mako-chan gave up trying to teach me." She smiled at the memory of the last "cooking class". Ikuko-Mama could only dream of aspiring to the height of sheer inedibility that Ami could achieve with only a few simple ingredients.

"If your cooking is so awful, what do you eat?" Nephrite asked.

"Take-out," Ami replied. "Speaking of which, I thought we could order pizza."

"Pizza?" Nephrite didn't sound so sure.

"You'll like it. Trust me," Ami said, reaching for the phone. "We can eat it quickly and then do something instead of sitting around."

"What kind of something?" He asked it with the same air as someone inquiring as to which torture method would be applied to them next.

"I was thinking we could go down to the harbor. It's used mostly for personal boats now, so they have all sorts of touristy things to do and we can walk along the trails by the beach. I mean, it's not exciting, but neither is sitting around on the couch," Ami said in one breath. When there was no protest from her guest, she set about ordering the food and making tea.

When the pizza had been consumed, mostly by Nephrite, they prepared to head out to her tiny Honda sedan. "Aren't you going to be cold in that?" Nephrite asked, indicating her shirt.

_At least he noticed the outfit._ He was right, so she grabbed a cardigan before they left.

Despite her best efforts to put the seat back, Nephrite still ended up wedged uncomfortably in the passenger seat. "It's only a few minutes drive," she reassured him, and tried not to laugh as he maneuvered to try and cross his legs.

The breeze from the water chilled the air significantly and she was glad for the warmth of her sweater and the more modest coverage it provided. Nephrite seemed completely unaffected in just shirt sleeves although the wind was managing to make his hair stand even more on end.

"Where are we going?" he asked over the squawking of the ever-present seagulls in the parking lot.

"This way," she said and grabbed his good wrist to pull him towards a row of small shops. "I like looking at all the weird stuff they sell."

"This shop sells nothing but soap?" Nephrite asked as they heavily perfumed air hit them.

"Well, not exactly," Ami said. "They sell all sorts of things for baths."

Nephrite was examining a collection of bath oils made into animal shapes and shaking his head. "People spend money on this?"

She quietly slipped the packet of bath salts in her hand beneath his line of vision. "Some of it is a little ridiculous, but it's one of the few places around here that imports from Japan." Once she had stealthily made her purchase, she led him off to the next shop, containing nothing but hats. Nephrite just stared incredulously. "Don't even try to understand," Ami told him. "It's just for fun."

"But who would want a giant turtle hat?" he asked, pointing at a prominent display in the window.

"I can think of two people," Ami said, watching his reflection.

"Okay, who in their right mind would want a giant turtle hat?" he amended.

She just tugged on his arm to get him to move one before he got bored. The next shop was her favorite and would have been Usagi's as well. It had to be the best stocked bakery she had ever had the pleasure of visiting, even just the sight of its familiar sign was enough to make her begin salivating.

"We have to go in here," she said excitedly, dragging him along in her haste. Although it was hard to choose, her favorite section was the delicate spun sugar decorations the shop was best known for. She examined an underwater scene destined for a child's birthday cake while her companion browsed the more substantial selections.

"We should get something," she said vaguely as she wandered back over. "Preferably something we can share; I'm still full."

"You'll have to choose. I don't know what most of this is," he replied. Behind him, the counter-clerk was obviously checking him out.

"A cookie?" Ami said half-jokingly, trying not to be jealous of the well-endowed employee.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" he asked with an exasperated edge.

"I can't. It was too cute," Ami said. "But seriously, their cookies are huge." She pointed to a chocolate chip cookie nearly as big as her head.

"Whatever you like," he replied non-committally.

Once outside with their purchase, Ami excused herself to find a public restroom to wash her hands. As soon as she entered the tiny building, her skin began to prickle. She scanned the room, but all the stalls were empty. The only thing unusual was that the "hot" faucet of the nearest sink was running.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she reached out to turn the handle back, recoiling at the last moment as the water splashed up at her. It wasn't burning like she expected, but ice cold.

_Weird._ She turned the faucet off and moved to the next sink, but the feeling of unease wouldn't go away. She finished washing as fast as she could and hurried away while wiping her hands on her pants.

"Are you all right?" Nephrite asked when she found him sitting impatiently on one of the picnic tables nearby. "You look a little pale."

"What? Oh, it must be the light," she lied, taking the cookie back from him and breaking it in two. The shaking of her hands produced a grossly uneven break and she lamely tried to laugh it off.

Nephrite wasn't buying it. "You can feel that too?" he asked.

"Feel what?" she asked.

He took a piece of cookie from her and said, "I can't quite explain it, something just doesn't feel right."

Ami paused with a bite halfway to her mouth. "You think there's a youma nearby?"

"No, it doesn't feel like the aura of a youma," he replied. "I'm not even sure it's something to worry about. It's so weak I can't even tell where it's coming from."

Ami put down the napkin she hadn't realized she was tearing up. "Well, if we can't tell where it is, we can't do anything about it anyway," she said, trying to rationalize the situation to herself. She took another bite of cookie, but the chocolate wasn't making her feel better.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Nephrite asked again.

"I just don't like the idea of something happening if I could have prevented it," she said.

"Hey, your time for dealing with youma is over. One of the Shitennou will take care of it if there's a problem," he said reassuringly. "You've got chocolate on your face, by the way."

It took a moment for what he said to process and she snatched up the tattered napkin. "You missed it," Nephrite said when she finished wiping her mouth. Her next attempt did no better and had put out his hand for the napkin. "Let me try."

She tried her best not to lean into the hand that held her face steady, but it was a difficult fight. "There, it's gone," he said finally. He leaned back slightly as if to admire his handiwork.

"How do I look?" she asked slyly.

"Better," Nephrite said firmly.

She hadn't been expecting that. "Better?"

"Yeah, you're not pale anymore. Whatever was bothering us is gone now," he explained, finally letting go of her face.

He was right. The sense of unease wasn't there anymore, although she might have come up with a different reason as to why she suddenly felt better. She licked the last vestiges of chocolate from her lips and hid her smile as Nephrite's eyes followed the movement.

"Do you want to go for a walk now?" Ami asked when the last crumbs had been finished. "They've got some trails along the water we can follow."

"I guess so," Nephrite said. He glanced back at the row of shops and shook his head. "I'm not really into shopping."

"You don't strike me as the type," Ami agreed. She hopped off of her perch and contemplated which trail to take. It was chilly enough in the waning sunlight that they were all likely to be fairly empty, but still she didn't want to stumble across as overly-amorous, teenaged couple who thought they had some privacy.

Nephrite was preoccupied with glaring at the nearby group of boys staring at her, and it took a tug on his arm to capture his attention.

The path she chose took them through a sparsely wooded area that tapered into brush. Weed grew over enough of the path that it took some work to follow it, but Ami knew from experience that it was the prettiest path.

"Do you come to the shore often?" Nephrite asked as they dodged a patch of thistles.

"Sometimes. Not as much as I would like. I really don't get much time off from work," she replied. "Sometimes I'll go to the beach nearby, but only if I have the whole day off."

"You've been busy? I know you were working on that project, but I didn't know how much," Nephrite said.

"The project will take years to finish," she said simply, but then added, "I'm lucky if I only work a sixty hour week."

I can't imagine doing anything for sixty hours a week." He began to kick some of the tall grass encroaching on their path away.

"It's not that bad and it's worth it in the end. I've been working to do this since I started school," she said. "My mother was a doctor and I always wanted to become one too and make her proud of me."

"I'm sure she is proud of you," Nephrite said automatically.

"What are you thinking about?" Ami asked when she noticed the far away look in his eye.

"Just trying to remember how and why I became one of the Shitennou," was the reply. "I have so few memories of the past life; I don't think I'll ever remember."

"I don't remember much of the past life either. I can't even remember if I'm from the moon or Mercury or wherever." _On the other hand, I don't remember the pain, suffering or destruction of the two kingdoms._

Nephrite shrugged. "Maybe it's best just to leave the past in the past. It hasn't helped Zoisite or Kunzite to have remembered more."

"I try not to worry about it too much. I have enough to worry about in this life," Ami agreed, shutting aside her curiosity for the moment.

"Well, that is something you have that we don't," Nephrite said darkly. "We're all stuck with our roles from the past life."

Ami didn't know what to say. Nephrite had a human form, but he and the other Shitennou were still essentially an "other." That's not fair at all," she said quietly.

"Things rarely are," Nephrite said. "I'm the lucky one out of the four of us by far, even with all the shit I went through." He turned to look at her. "At least I can pretend to be one of you for awhile."

She stopped walking over to squeeze his hand. "You don't feel like 'one of us'?"

He smiled wanly. "I think it's safe to say that I don't fit in," he said.

"Well, maybe if you spent more time on Earth," she said quietly, not quite believing her own words.

Nephrite snorted at the idea. "It seems the longer I spend here, the worse things become. I don't know how to act, what to say, where to go..."

"I felt the same way when I first came to America," Ami admitted. "I was fifteen and on my own. Not only was I foreign, but I think people were intimidated by the fact I was so young and in med school."

"But eventually you figured it out," Nephrite said.

"Well, no. I get along with my co-workers, but I don't really have any friends here," Ami said.

Looking horrified, Nephrite asked, "Who do you talk to?" he asked.

"Usagi, Makoto...everyone back in Japan, really," replied Ami. _Thank goodness for cheap long distance._

"Do you go see them a lot?" Nephrite asked. "As much as I complain about Jadeite, I think I'd miss him if we didn't live together."

The trail meandered out onto a small point, and Ami stopped when they came to the edge of the water. "I don't see them that much. Everyone is so busy with their own lives."

They watched the wavelets lap against the rocky solid in silence, still hand in hand. "You know, I could come visit a bit more often," Nephrite said after a few minutes. "Not that I don't want to see you often," he backpedaled a moment later.

"I would like that," Ami said thoughtfully. She leaned into his side slightly and smiled when he wrapped his uninjured arm around her waist.

"I could get used to this," Nephrite admitted quietly.

_So could I_, Ami added to herself. A stiff breeze picked up and she mentally cursed the November weather. It would only get colder as the last rays of sun disappeared. With a sigh, she suggested they head back to the car.

It was already dark by the time they found their way back to the parking lot, and a fire-engine with its lights flashing illuminated one end of the parking lot.

Ami quickly squashed the flash of guilt for having left work early. "I wonder what happened," she remarked casually as they drove back to her apartment.


	6. Chapter 6

_There is something pathetic about being in your pajamas before eight,_ Ami thought as she stared into her barren refrigerator. Her stomach rumbled angrily, urging her to choose something edible quickly.

She settled down to a dry bowl of Lucky Charms after hitting the blinking light on the phone cradle. The first two messages were blank, but the third was the nervous voice of her mother. "Ami, is everything okay? I haven't heard from you since the third. Call Mama as soon as you get the chance."

With a pang of guilt, she erased the message. It was true she had been working ridiculous hours at work and spending more time with Nephrite, but it wasn't the lack of time that was making her put off calling home.

_I'll call tomorrow,_ she told herself, already knowing it was a lie. Suddenly the cereal was even less appetizing than before and she pushed the bowl across the table.

There was mail to go through as well, but she didn't have the energy to do anything else. All she had managed to do after getting home from another twelve hour day was change into her pajamas, like she had done for the past six weeks.

Ever since she had taken Nephrite to the Long harbor, she had been spending more time treating new pediatric cases than working on her research and she had to stay later and later to keep to her deadlines. Coupled with that was Nephrite actually coming around two or three times a week. She was nothing short of exhausted.

She was even slightly annoyed by the loud knock on the door; even through she knew who it was. It took so long for her to trudge her way through the apartment that Nephrite was poised to knock again when she swung the door open. "Is now a bad time?" he asked after eyeing her up and down.

She leaned into him bonelessly and sighed into his chest. "I'm so tired," she mumbled.

His hand was warm on her forehead. "Do you want me to go?" he asked.

Despite the fact her eyes were closing of their own accord, she slowly shook her head, "I never want you to go."

Picking her up like she weighed nothing, he made his way over to the sofa. Sometimes she had trouble believing he could be so violent when he was always gentle with her. Soon she was sprawled across the cushions, half splayed over his lap.

She stretched like a cat and tried to settle herself into a more ladylike position, but it was a difficult feat to avoid causing undue harm to the lap beneath her. Finally, she managed to roll onto her back and use his legs as a pillow.

"Comfortable?" he asked jokingly when she finally came to rest.

"Mmmhmm." It was almost too much work to talk.

"So why are you so tired?"

"Hmmm? Today they had so many odd cases in the emergency room that they had me helping the triage nurse," she tried to look up at him, but had to shield her eyes from the ceiling lights.

Nephrite opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but then thought better of it.

"What?" she asked, but he just shook his head.

"Nevermind." He brushed a stray bit of hair off of her face. "They're working you too hard."

"Not any harder than the other doctors," she mumbled.

"Well, then they're working all of you too hard," Nephrite said firmly.

"My mother used to work just as hard-," her sentence was cut off by a yawn. "She actually called me today because I hadn't talked to her in two weeks."

"Worrying is what mothers do." Nephrite was right, but there was something else.

"I know, but sometimes she forgets that I do other things besides work." Despite her best efforts there was a hard edge to her voice. "I guess it's because she doesn't have time for her own friends outside of work."

"Are you trying to tell me that you didn't have five minutes to talk to your mother in two weeks?" Nephrite asked.

"No...It's just sometimes she asks me more questions about my life than I feel like answering," she admitted.

"You don't want to tell her about me," Nephrite said flatly. He seemed to be perceptive about all the things she wished he was oblivious too.

Ami's eyes flew open. "No, no," she protested. "She's just always worried about me getting distracted."

"Am I a distraction?" Ami winced at the hurt tone in his voice.

The tension remained in his jaw-line, but Nephrite said nothing else. Without even thinking about it, Ami reached to rub the tense muscles of his stomach. "She's just being a mother," she said soothingly. "She was worried when I met Usagi as well."

It was hard to tell whether it was her words or touch that was working, but Nephrite relaxed slightly. Rather than continuing an obviously sore subject, she wracked her brain for something to do. While she hardly had the energy to keep her eyes open while carrying a conversation, there had to be something they could do that wouldn't involve insulting her living pillow.

"Do you want to go to bed?" Nephrite asked as she pondered what to do next.

Ami could do nothing but blink up at him for a few moments and Nephrite stared blankly back at her. "What?" she finally managed to sputter.

"Do you want to go to bed? You keep falling asleep for a few seconds and then jerking awake," he elaborated.

"Oh, yes. That would be a good idea," she said stiffly, trying to avoid eye contact. Clearly their minds were not in the same place. Nephrite looked completely confused at her behavior, but didn't make a comment.

Again he scooped her up effortlessly. "Where is your bedroom, anyway?"

"Second door, on the left," she said and wrapped her arms around his neck.

The alarm clock barely cast enough light to see by, but there was little furniture to worry about walking into. He set her gently on the perfectly made bed and helped her crawl under the covers. "Do I get a bedtime story?" she asked playfully as she fluffed up her pillow.

"Maybe. Have you heard the one about the Prince of Earth and Princess of the moon?" All he got in reward for his joke was a face full of pillow, which he promptly snatched out of her hands. "That's not nice."

"I never claimed to be nice," she protested.

She yawned again and Nephrite followed suit. "It's spreading," he grumbled good-naturedly. "I'm leaving before I wake up on the floor."

"What? I don't get a kiss goodnight?" she mumbled. Moments later she was shocked back awake by his lips on her own.

"Goodnight," he said as he turned to leave.

"Goodnight," she responded automatically.

He was long gone by the time the shock wore off. Grinning, she rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. Makoto was getting a phone call first thing in the morning.


	7. Chapter 7

It was probably after the tenth case of unexplained shock in tow days that Ami decided something was very wrong. Trauma wasn't really her department, but there was supposed to be a reason for a patient to have gone into shock. The hospital had been receiving these cases for over two months, but nothing at this level.

Her research partner entered the staff room with a groan. "We've got another case," he said simply, before flopping into the nearest chair. "Pediatric."

As soon as she heard the announcement, Ami's stomach dropped. So far the victims had been adults with the odd teenager thrown in. What on earth could be affecting so many different people?

When she voiced her thoughts, Dr. Lyons suggested some sort of contamination. It was possible, of course, but what kind of pollution would have such devastating effects without even more cases appearing? The cases were coming from all over the county, so it wasn't one, isolated area.

She had another, more sinister suggestion, but she wasn't going to tell anyone in the hospital. The awful feeling she had in the harbor right before the start of the increase in cases could hardly be a coincidence.

Once again, she wished Nephrite was with her.

He hadn't turned up in two weeks, adding to her worries. He hadn't made any effort to contact her either, much to her annoyance. He hadn't been that upset when she told him about her mother, had he? Then again, when something bothered him he did tend to over-react. She even began to wonder if she had dreamed that he'd kissed her.

With a sigh, she rubbed at her temple. "Who's taking the case?" she asked.

"Fletcher, I think," was the answer.

She nodded thoughtfully. "I'm going to do some research then. Have any of the other hospitals been reporting strange cases?"

Dr. Lyons didn't know, so she set about finding out how she could get information. It wasn't easy by any means and more than once she found herself wanting to drive down to Washington D.C. and throttle whoever came up with the medical privacy laws. Finally, she got a vague admission that Mather Hospital had received a few patients that were brought in for unexplained shock. Despite begging and pleading, they couldn't give her any more information without patient consent forms.

As soon as the phone was back in the cradle, she swore at it. Even without a translation, her partner knew she had no luck. "Hopefully they'll link all these cases together and we'll get to see the info soon."

_That doesn't help us now though_. "I guess. I just with I could do something to help."

"Me too," Lyons admitted. "But at least we can pick up the slack while the cases are being worked on."

---

By the time she got home she was physically exhausted, but her mind was still racing. After talking to Fletcher about the newest case she was even more convinced that nothing natural was causing all this.

After some hesitation, she pulled a lock box down from her bedroom closet and set in on the bed. Although she didn't think she'd need the contents yet, she wanted to make sure it was readily available if she needed it. After safely tucking the box under the bed, she picked up the phone to call Rei.

Rei listened intently to her information, but didn't seem overly alarmed. "I don't know if there's any real cause to be concerned about the Dark Kingdom. Maybe it really is an outbreak of something."

"Maybe, but the cases aren't forming any sort of pattern yet. Nephrite said he felt some kind of Dark Energy too." As much as she'd like to believe that his was just a chemical contamination or outbreak, there were just too many fishy details.

"Wait, Nephrite? What do the Shitennou have to do with this?" Rei interrupted.

_Shit._ "He was here to visit me," she admitted. "I've felt the power twice now when Nephrite was there."

"This has been going on for awhile now," Rei said flatly.

"Well, maybe a few months. After the wedding we-"

"No, not you two. The Dark Energy." Rei sounded impatient.

"I don't know. Nephrite didn't seem concerned before. He said the Shitennou would take care of it if something popped up." _So why aren't they taking care of this._

"Luna said that the Shitennou have been watching Mamoru and Usagi closely for the past few months." Rei paused. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe there is something going on and they're trying to 'take care of it'."

"...you think Nephrite lied to me?" Ami asked.

"I...think he may not be telling you the whole story," Rei answered. "The Shitennou might not want us to interfere."

"That's ridiculous!" Ami said. "People are nearly dying here on a regular basis. If this is a supernatural problem, they obvious aren't taking care of it themselves."

"Ami-chan," Rei said harshly.

"What?" Ami snapped more sharply than she meant.

"Ami, promise me you won't try to investigate this yourself," Rei said.

"Why not? Obviously no one else is-"

Rei cut her off. "Ami, that's how I ended up in the hospital. If this has already evolved into something capable of harming so many people, what could you possibly do?"

"I could-" she began, but she knew Rei was right. "All right."

"I'll see if I can find out anything from here and maybe Luna could come stay with you for awhile." Rei was obviously trying to calm her down.

"I guess that would help," Ami said sullenly. "I don't have time to deal with this, anyway."

"Ami, I don't mean to pry, but are you okay?" Rei sounded genuinely concerned, and Ami grimaced.

"Yes." Everyone seemed to be asking about her. "I'm just tired."

"If you say so." Rei obviously didn't believe her. "Have you talked to Mako-chan lately?"

Ami sighed. "No, I haven't called anyone in weeks. I haven't even seen Nephrite in two weeks."

"I think Makoto would like to hear from you. The only people she has to talk to now are Motoki and Usagi and they're more crazy about the wedding than she is."

"I can imagine." Thinking about Mako-chan just made her feel like a bad friend. Who let work take over their like to the point she did? "Once I catch a break, I will."

"Okay, I'll let you catch some sleep then. Remember, you promised not to go looking for trouble," Rei said.

"Yea, yea," said Ami. "Good night."

---

Everything was making her irrationally angry. She was mad at the patients, mad at the hospital administration, mad at the Shitennou, mad at her mother, and mad at whoever put the Ghostbusters movie on for the umpteenth time in the staff room. "I hate this movie," she groaned as she slammed her locker shut.

"What, you don't want to have it memorized like the rest of us?" Dr. Fletcher asked as she pulled on a pair of nursing sneakers.

"Don't we own any other movies?" Ami asked.

"Yes, but they're even worse." Her co-worker shook her head. "At least you're off now, right?"

"For a whole ten hours," Ami grumbled. "See you in the morning."

Once in her apartment, she pulled out the map she was working on. Carefully marked on the paper were the locations of where all the shock victims had been brought in from.

Only three of the victims had been found in private homes. The rest had been found in very public areas; the harbor, the mall, a nightclub, and on one horrible occasion a high school. This led to the current theory among local officials that was some sort of communicable disease present and people were being urged to avoid unnecessary trips to public areas.

Without thinking, she chewed on a lock of hair as she added the day's cases. More than any other are, the Smithhaven mall seemed to be the most dangerous place to go. Fletcher had suggested that the "disease" might be airborne and spread in recycled air. Ami knew better.

The eight victims brought in earlier in the day brought the total up to over one hundred and twenty five. Something clearly had to be done.

_I'll call in sick tomorrow. _They would need her at the hospital, but if she could find the source the "epidemic" would stop.

There were a surprising number of cars in the mall parking lot. Then again, with the commercialized frenzy of the week before Christmas Ami should have known better.

She had no idea what she was looking for or where to start looking for it. What if it really was a communicable disease? What if it was a youma she couldn't handle?

Still, she had already called in sick and now that she was there she could at least have a look around. The mall seemed normal. The sun was shining in the skylights, reflecting off the fake pine and tinsel decorations along the walls. The usual suspects were there; teenagers skipping school, mothers with screaming toddlers, cranky, old men waiting while their wives shopped.

_What a waste._ The chipper holiday music blasting from the central plaza was driving her crazy. _Who wants a picture of their kid on some old guy's lap, anyway. _

Another lap around the mall revealed nothing suspicious. The only questionable things were the new winter style which only seemed suitable if one were wintering in Miami. Then she spotted the small hallway leading off to the public restrooms, storage area and loading docks and she felt a chill.

Trying to look casual, she took off briskly for the lonely corridor. As soon as she entered, a wave of fear hit her so hard she froze in place. It was all she could do not to vomit in reaction.

The sweat began to pour off the back of her neck. _What is this?_ With every muscles in her body fighting her, she managed to step forward. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears. _I can't let this stop me._

_I can do this._ She made it halfway to the cross corridor, stumbling only once when her trembling legs gave out. Another wave of nausea gripped her and she clutched at the wall for balance. Slowly, her conscious thoughts were being overwhelmed by the rush of adrenaline running through her system.

When she was grabbed from behind and dragged down into a second corridor, all she could do was kick and shriek like an animal.

She continued shrieking into the hand that clomped over mouth long after she had been brought down to the ground and immobilized. Then, as quickly as it had happened, the external fear was gone. Her heart was still pounding, but the fear was internal now, due to the very real attacker still holding her down on the cold concrete.

"Are you stupid?" a very familiar voice hissed in her ear.

As soon as the pressure on her back let up she scrambled to her feet. "Where the hell have you been?" she demanded, but she didn't get an immediate answer as several pairs of footsteps came down the hall.

With a snarl, Nephrite grabbed her roughly and teleported.

When the temporary disorientation gave way, Ami realized she was facing a furious Nephrite in her apartment. He towered over her and she instinctively tried to shrink away from him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he spat. "Are you trying to end up in the hospital?"

"I was trying to put a stop to an epidemic of unexplained attacks," she hissed back, resentful of the attack. "Obviously no one else is going to."

"What do you think I was doing at the mall, buying a new mini-skirt?" he growled. "You should just stay out of the way."

"I would have if any of you bothered to do anything about this." She glared hard at him.

"Do you think this is the only problem I have to deal with? There are other people and other youma we had to take care of." Nephrite was impervious to her intense gaze and stared back in her face.

She slammed her hand down on the counter. "You can't expect me to just sit around while all these people end up in the hospital."

"That's exactly what I expect you to do," he yelled in response, and Ami finally noticed the fear behind the anger in his eyes. "You can't possibly take on something like this. You don't even know what you're dealing with, do you?"

"I was trying to find out!" she protested.

"So you can do what, exactly? Become another victim?" Once again she was without an answer.

"I could think of something," she protested but her righteous anger was fading quickly.

"Stay out of the way," Nephrite said slowly. She'd never heard his voice drop so shortly like that before, no matter how angry he had been. It was easy to ignore his loud grumblings, but this, this scared her. "You're not a senshi anymore."

Without another word he was gone, leaving her sick to her stomach and shaking. She staggered over to one of the kitchen chairs and tried to process exactly what had happened.

All she could come up with is that she had messed up, badly.


	8. Chapter 8

AN - This is the first chapter that needed some severe censoring. If you'd like to read the full version (and you are over the age to read such things), check out my profile.

* * *

There were no victims brought to the hospital the day she had called in sick. Somehow, that fact did little to ease her feeling that something horrible had happened. 

She went about her duties in a daze, half moping, half fuming. She'd never felt anything like the intense, animal panic that had hit her in the shopping center. Just thinking about it made the pit of her stomach cramp. How could she let something so base control her?

And Nephrite. How could he just push her aside like that? If he knew about this youma, why hadn't he taken care of it before? How dare he be made at her for trying to help.

She glanced out the window. It was still snowing heavily, making several of her patients giddy even if they couldn't go out and play. They were too young to know that it would melt in the week before Christmas. All it meant to her was that it would make traffic hell if it continued to stick.

"Ami!"

Startled, she spun around. Dr. Lyon's waved her hand in front of her face. "You in there?"

"Yes. Sorry. I just spaced out for a minute," she said. She squeezed the bridge of her nose.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look so good." Her co-worker smiled disarmingly. "Maybe you should take another sick day."

"Maybe I should," she replied unsteadily. She wasn't so necessary if they weren't dealing with a flood of shock victims, was she?

---

By the time she had her rounds covered and collected her things there were already three inches of wet snow on the ground. The sun had nearly set, leaving the clouded sky a deep shade of purple, which meant the roads would be a horror for most of her fellow doctors.

She was just putting her purse on the passenger seat when it felt like someone ran an ice cube up her spine. Her keys dropped noisily from her hand as her entire body stiffened.

With a lurch, she tore herself out of the seat and searched the parking lot. There was no indication of anything unusual except for a set of foot steps leading from her Honda. They were tiny prints, high-heeled, with an even stride even in the deepest snow. Judging by the lack of fallen snow covering them, they were made minutes before.

Between shallow, gasping breaths, Ami pondered what to do. Was the woman in the woods in danger? If she called for help would she just put anyone else in danger?

Grunting, she staggered after the footprints, using the trees for balance. It felt like the whole world was spinning and she fought back the urge to vomit.

"I was hoping you were stupid enough to come," a low voice said in Japanese. A cold hand gripped the back of her neck and an icy-hot line pressed against her throat. "You made this too easy."

"Who-who are you?" Ami choked out.

Her captor said nothing but snickered darkly. The blade at felt burning hot as it was drawn across her neck, just deep enough to make her bleed, and she froze, not even daring to breathe. "I could cut you to pieces and no one would ever find you," the voice whispered in her ear.

Ami shivered violently and her trembling fingers crept towards the zipper on her winter coat. "What do you want?" she asked.

"I want to cut you down, break you, destroy you completely," the voice purred. "I want to watch you cry and beg for your pathetic life." The blade at her neck was replaced by a gloved hand and she saw stars as it slowly tightened. "You'll be such a fun plaything."

Ami yanked the zipper open on her bulky coat and slipped out of it. She jerked herself free of his grip and stumbled a few feet away before collapsing.

From the tips of her blue hair to the soles of her boots, Dark Mercury was nothing but cold malice. Without a word she began forming an ice sword in one delicate hand. When the tip glittered in the diffused light from the parking lot. She began to laugh again. "This will be fun."

Using the tree as a crutch, Ami crawled to her feet. "How? Why?" she stuttered.

Her dark counterpart swung her sword lazily, testing the weight. "So many questions. You're a smart girl; I'm sure you'll figure it out." She pointed the tip directly at Ami. "If I don't kill you first."

"This of all the fun I'll have when you're gone. I can take your life, your job, your friends...your boyfriend..." Ami's hands clenched as her opponent spoke. "Think of all the fresh victims I'll have in the hospital."

All the color drained from Ami's face as she did. Who would suspect quiet Dr. Mizuno was some sort of monster?

"Your friends would hardly notice you were gone. When was the last time you even spoke to any of them? They probably think you're ignoring them. I bet Nephrite would notice the difference, but he'd probably like it," Dark Mercury licked her lips. "You're such a prude."

Ami tried to tune out the taunting, but trying to come up with some sort of plan. If she called for help, others would be in dangers. She shut her eyes.

A icicle stuck into the wood beside her head. "You can't ignore me," Mercury said, advancing. "You're getting boring anyway."

Ami stared like a deer in headlights as the ice blade swung down.

At the last moment, instinct kicked in and she shoved at the blue, armored chest of her attacker. With a sickening, wet sound her left thigh felt like it had been stabbed by a flaming poker and she fell heavily to the ground.

The blade had gone completely through her leg, just missing the bone. Her body heat was melting the ice already and it mixed with her blood to stain the snow a delicate shade of pink.

"Oops!" Mercury laughed. Another sword was already forming in her palm.

Dizzily, Ami clutched the slick hilt of the embedded blade and desperately wondered if she should remove it or not. She couldn't escape while impaled and there was little doubt in her clouded mind that she would die if she remained hidden in the trees.

She yanked it free just as her opponent aimed at her neck. With a wild swing shes blocked and swung again with the dripping red blade before the dark senshi could fully react.

"You little bitch," Mercury said incredulously, examining the slice in her skirt. She raised her sword to strike again. "I guess I'll just finish you now, then."

Dark Mercury didn't get the chance to strike again.

The ofuda struck squarely in the center of her tiara and promptly burst into flames. She shrieked angrily and tried to rip it off, providing just enough for the two new fighters in red to come into Ami's field of vision.

Both Rei and Nephrite were staring at Dark Mercury in shock as she finally freed herself from the offending paper. "You will pay for that," she hissed.

In the meantime, Ami struggled to stop the bleeding in her leg. Every time she shifted her weight, it felt like more ice crystals were digging into her flesh. The best she could do was put pressure on the artery and hope that the battle would end soon. Between the adrenaline rush, fear and the blood loss her grip on consciousness was tenuous at best.

Nephrite cautiously drew his sword as he glanced and back and forth between the two Ami's. Rei held another ofuda ready, but Dark Mercury had other plans.

"Mercury Aqua Blizzard!" The blast caught Nephrite, encasing him in a shroud of ice, but Rei was faster and hit the ground.

"Youma Taisan!" she shot back, but without Mars' power behind it, Mercury easily absorbed the hit.

With a crash, Nephrite's cage of ice shattered. He dropped into a ready stance in earnest. "This is unforgivable," he snarled, brandishing his sword.

Ami watched the battle through half lidded eyes. She noted that Rei was trembling as well, most likely feeling the fear the youma seemed to radiate. Nephrite was standing his ground, but without the normal bravado.

When Ami's head jerked back up, the battle was changing dramatically. Rei flew back into a large sapling, snapping it in two. With Dark Mercury's attention elsewhere, Nephrite took the opportunity to throw an energy bolt at her unprotected back.

Mercury hissed in pain and touched the burnt edges of her fuku. Slowly, she turned to fade the tennou and began to change. The blue hair turned to blonde odangos, the uniform became more ornate and her ice sword became the pink and blue blade of the Princess.

"What the hell?" Nephrite asked in confusion, retreating a few steps.

Rei struggled to her feet on the opposite side. "Whatever you do, don't throw a projectile at her." She limped her way towards where Ami lay bleeding.

Nephrite circled cautiously, clearly unsure of what to do. The Princess just stood watching him with one hand on her hip.

Ami could just make out the pale face of Rei as she leaned over. Her friend was visibly shaking and she was breathing rapidly, with shallow breaths. _She's going into shock_, the well trained voice said in Ami's head.

_Shock._

Slowly, she started connecting the different elements. The intense fear. The different forms... They were all connecting somehow but her foggy brain wasn't quite making it come together.

"Ami-chan!" Rei was shaking her. "Wake up."

Dimly, she heard Nephrite cry out in pain. _I've got to do something. Think, Ami, think._

The world was turning red and in her mind's eye she watched Nephrite fall.

_Shock. Fear._

"It's amplifying out fear and feeding on it," she murmured.

"What?" Rei asked.

"It's feeding on our fear. Look at what it's been changing into," Ami said weakly, gesturing at the "Princess."

Rei's eyes opened wide. "I think you're right." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Got to calm down," she mumbled to herself.

Ami tried to slow her own breathing. She clutched at the snow beneath her. "Water, help me," she pleaded.

The snow crunched as Rei got to her feet. "Yosh," she muttered through gritted teeth. "Akuryou Taisan!"

The false Princess was knocked off her feet and Nephrite kicked her solidly in the stomach before she could roll away.

"Nephrite, she's feeding off your fear," Rei called across the makeshift battlefield. "Try not to think of our enemies."

"You just take the fun out of everything, don't you?" The Princess' form melted, turning into an amorphous black shape that grew until it towered over Nephrite. "How's this for scary?"

Nephrite retreated until he was between Rei, Ami and the youma. "Got any other bright ideas?" he asked.

Ami shook her head and grimaced at the dizziness that followed. "I don't know anymore," she mumbled.

"She's fading fast," Rei said, "This has got to end now."

"My pleasure," growled the youma and reached a dark tentacle to them.

"Uranus World Shaking!"

Both Rei and Nephrite lost their footing.

"Neptune Deep Submerge!"

The youma wailed and struck out wildly, but it was failing rapidly.

"Akuryou Taisan!" Rei screamed again and the ofuda were enough to finish the job.

The creature slowly dissolved revealing two young women in sailor fuku standing behind it. The taller one was blonde and tomboyish in blue and yellow while had long aqua hair with a matching bow.

_Sailor Senshi _Ami thought, but she lacked the energy to speak.

"Sailor Senshi," spat another voice, and Ami just caught the sight of black hakama striding into view before everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

AN - Trying to censor this story is becoming a pain and more trouble than its worth. Unfortunately, the two version of the story are going to start diverging if I keep this up. I'm beginning to think I might just "cut" the parts that need to be censored and let people go read the story elsewhere if they want the whole thing.

---

Her mother holding her hand was the first thing Ami noticed as she woke up. She was hooked to a multitude of tubes and machinery and the unmistakable smell of sanitizing chemicals hung in the air.

"Oh, Ami, I was so worried about you," her mother said shakily.

Ami tried to respond, but her mouth felt like it was full of cotton. Without having to ask, her mother fetched a cup of water and a straw. "I'm sorry you were worried," Ami managed to croak out after taking a sip.

"What happened? The doctors said you were brought in with two others, but they were already released by the time my flight got here," Dr. Mizuno said.

Ami hissed in pain as she tried to sit up. "I was mugged. My friends had to fight them off," she lied.

"You were stabbed in the thigh for your purse?" her mother asked.

"I get the feeling they were looking for something else as well,." Ami shuddered at the memory. "I don't know what I would have done if Rei and Nephrite hadn't shown up."

"Rei and ... Nephrite?"

It was quite an endeavor, but Ami managed to pull herself up on the hand rails of the hospital bed. The limited view out the window showed that the snow was falling heavily again. "You met Rei when she came to see me off to America. You've never met Nephrite."

"What were they doing in America?" Dr. Mizuno asked.

"Coming to see me. I've been so stressed out that I needed some moral support," Ami said avoiding her mother's gaze.

There was a long pause and then her mother said, "Ami-chan, I wish you would say something sooner when you're having a problem."

"I know," Ami replied. "I guess I just wanted to take care of things for myself.

Silence followed for a minute. Finally Dr. Mizuno said slowly, "Sometimes Mama forgets that you're not her little girl anymore." She smiled sadly. "I guess all mothers feel the same way."

Ami smiled. "I'll always be your little girl."

"You know I just want what's best for you right?" Dr Mizuno asked, but Ami never got to answer because the door opened.

"Oh, I'll come back later," Nephrite said, trying to retreat back to the safety of the hallway.

Ami's mother had other ideas. "Come in, it's alright."

_Here we go._ "Mama, this is Nephrite. Nephrite, this is my mother," Ami said, trying not to laugh at the pleading look in Nephrite's eyes.

"Pleased to meet you," Nephrite said with more of a bow than was strictly necessary. When he righted himself, she could see the ugly purple and green bruise of a healing black eye. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere than were he was.

"So I have you to thank for keeping my daughter in one piece?" Dr. Mizuno asked.

Nephrite scratched at the back of his head. "I guess. I didn't seem to do such a good job." He smiled nervously and glanced longingly at the still open door.

"I'm still alive," Ami cut in. "Were you hurt badly?"

"Not really. Just my eyes and some bruised ribs," he said and Ami could clearly see the padding of the bandages beneath his shirt when she looked. He anticipated her next question and added. "Mars has a few bumps and bruises, but except for a concussion she's fine."

If Ami's mother picked up on the change of names, she didn't say anything. "Have the police said anything about the thugs who attacked you?"

Nephrite blinked slowly a few times as he tried to come up with a suitable story. "Um...no. They seem to have disappeared. He was saved by anymore awkward questions by Rei's arrival with human-Luna in tow.

"Mama, this is Rei and Luna," Ami said. She was surprised to see Luna had come over from Japan, but she'd have time to ask about that later.

Rei had a butterfly bandage over her eyebrow, but otherwise looked as well as Nephrite said. She was no longer in her hakama, but was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater. "Hi," she said. "Did we come at a bad time?"

Luna ducked under Nephrite's arm and came to the side of the hospital bed. "Everyone was panicking when we heard what happened. I had to fight to convince Usagi and Makoto not to jump on the earliest departing flight." She placed Artemis on the bedside table. "But, I brought Artemis to stay with you."

"How cute!" Dr. Mizuno remarked regarding the two new-comers carefully, and Luna gave her her best innocent, little girl smile. "I was just going to get something to eat," Ami's mother said abruptly and stood up. "I'll be back later."

As soon as she had left the room, Artemis began scratching frantically behind her ear. "I've wanted to do that since we got here."

"How are you doing?" Rei asked as she sat on the edge of the hospital bed.

"Well, my leg hurts," Ami reported with a wry smile. "What happened after I passed out?"

Her friend scanned the room then said,"Amazingly, not much. That weird miko pulled something out of the sludge the youma left, and then ran off."

"What about the senshi?" Ami asked.

"They didn't stick around either and we weren't in any position to chase them" Nephrite reported. He crossed his arms with a huff. "The whole mess is just confusing now."

"That's what I'm here for," Luna said brightly. She was carefully reapplying her lip gloss in her cat-shaped hand mirror. "I'll investigate so you don't have to."

It wasn't an admonishment, but it stung Ami like one. "I plan to stay out of this if I can," she said quietly.

Rei was watching her out of the corner of her eye. "Do you want me to go and drop Luna at your apartment?" she asked pointedly with a surreptitious nod in Nephrite's direction.

"Oh, I don't really have any food," Ami said trying to shake her head slightly. Not that she ever really kept much food in the apartment, but she hadn't had time to do any grocery shopping before the attack, and Luna could consume an amazing quantity of junk food.

"Not a problem," Luna said, starting to edge towards the door. "I am a cat after all."

"I can always buy her some snacks," Rei added, then headed for the door before Ami could say anything to the contrary.

Luna followed after waving goodbye. "We'll be back tomorrow!"

"Somehow I think they had that planned," Nephrite muttered after they had gone.

They sat awkwardly for a few minutes. A million thoughts were flitting through Ami's mind. Should she apologize? Should she ask for an apology? Why hadn't he shown up sooner? Why hadn't she asked for help

The question that finally escaped her lips surprised her completely. "Nephrite, do you think I'm a prude?"

"I-what?" Nephrite sputtered. "Where did that come from?"

She blushed furiously. "It's just that that youma said horrible things to me as Dark Mercury.""

"The worse of which was that you're a prude?" Nephrite asked.

"No...she was just saying she was going to steal my life...and my friends...and you," she said.

His expression was unreadable. "She was going to steal me how? By fucking me?" Then he looked her straight in the eyes. "Do you think I think you're just a warm body to chase?" He looked completely taken aback at the the suggestion.

Shes hadn't realized how badly what she said would hurt him. Her stomach sunk. "No..I guess... I guess I was just so scared I would believe whatever she said. She brought up everything I was worrying about whether I knew it or not."

Nephrite said nothing else, but the matter felt far from closed. She could see the tension in the line of his neck. "Are you going back to Japan," she asked, for lack of anything better to say.

"I don't know," he said thoughtfully. "There are enough people protecting the Princess and there is obviously something going on here."

"Protecting the Princess, not the Prince?" Ami asked.

"Of course, Endymion isn't having the baby," Nephrite replied, watching her with a curious expression.

"Usagi's pregnant?" Ami was aware her mouth was hanging open._ I really am a horrible friend._

Nephrite cocked one eyebrow. "You didn't know?"

_I am the worst friend ever. _"No, I can't believe I'm so stupid," she said incredulously. "How could I not know. Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"I assumed you knew," Nephrite said, a small smile forming as she fussed. "She's due in March."

She flopped back on her pillow. "I'm such an idiot," she moaned.

Her visitor set himself down in the chair her mother had vacated. "Not an idiot, just amusingly oblivious. That's probably why we get along." He reached over to stroke her hair. "I suppose I also need to tell you that we had to destroy two aliens that were trying to suck the energy out of Japan."

Just then, Artemis spoke up, startling Ami. She had completely forgotten he was there. He hopped onto her bed and padded over her stomach. "I wonder if this and the aliens are related."

"I don't think so," Nephrite said. "It didn't feel like the same energy."

A thought occurred to Ami. "Artemis, shouldn't you be with Minako?"

"I"m not that far. She's doing promotion in New York City," Artemis said before hopping down to lay down at her said. "It's only a train ride away."

Nephrite was watching Artemis with interest. "I was worried about leaving you here alone.," he said to Ami. I don't like how that youma seemed like was targeting you."

Artemis nodded. "I'll be on guard. After nodding back, Nephrite leaned over the plushie to press a kiss on Ami's forehead. "I'm going to go so you can get some rest. I"ll try to come back tomorrow."

Ami nodded, "Please do."

Not more than thirty seconds later her mother came in. She must have been nearby, but she didn't act like she had overheard. "I don't suppose that your handsome friend there has anything to with you not having the time to call your mother."

"No, I haven't had time to talk to him either," Ami said sadly. "I haven't talked to anyone."

"If I were you, I would make it a point to make the time to talk to him," Dr. Mizuno said with a small smile.

"Mama!"

---

Two days later, Ami found herself with a sudden lack of visitors. Her mother had to return to her work, Rei was spending the remainder of her time trying to ferret out any other youma with Luna and Nephrite was spending as little time as possible in the hospital.

It was hard to tell if he was avoiding her or if he had something against the hospital itself. Their conversations had gotten increasingly stilted, but he really wasn't much of a conversationalist.

She was left with nothing to do but think and she was tired of replaying the same thoughts over and over. Worrying about the past wasn't doing anything but giving her indigestion.

Artemis was asleep on her chest, taking advantage of the last rays of sunlight. She had to admire his patience in sitting in a hospital room all the time, but he had plenty of practice when he was watching over Minako. Even he would be leaving soon and heading back to Japan.

She absentmindedly flipped thought the channels on the television, but as usual there was nothing on except old movies and some talk shows. Why anyone would want to air their dirty laundry like that in public, she didn't know. Then again, she question the sanity of anyone who was trying to marry their husband's brother's best friend.

Artemis rolled over and began pawing at the air. One of these times the nurses would walk in on the plushie moving or talking and she had spent a few hours trying to come up with a cover up. One of these times the nurses would walk in on the plushie moving or talking and she had spent a few hours trying to come up with a cover up. How did one explain a living plushie, anyway?

She heard Nephrite before she saw him and looked up. He had his hands shoved deep in his pockets. "What are they letting you out of here?" he asked without preamble.

Tomorrow, I think," she said. "Provided I don't get an infection."

"Good." He eyed the full-length brace that immobilized her entire leg. "Are you going to be able to get around with that thing on?"

"I'll have crutches," she replied. "Actually, I wouldn't care if I was going to have to crawl. I just want tot get out of here."

"I don't blame you." He wrinkled his nose. "It smells like death in here."

_Smells like death._ When she asked about it, Nephrite said he could smell the blood and sweat underneath the chemicals. "I've always had a better sense of smell than most people," he said. "Supposedly I have better hearing as well."

"I'm just bored out to f my mind." She picked Artemis up and put him next to her so she could sit up.

Nephrite flopped into the chair next to her bed. "I would be too." He fingered the Poinsettia that Minako had sent. "What are all the decorations for?"

"Christmas is in two days," Ami said. _He wasn't at Krown in December, was he?_

"Christmas?" Nephrite asked.

"Christian holiday. It's supposed to be the birthday of their savior,"Ami replied. _He probably has no idea what Christianity really is, either._

Nephrite was at least pretending to pay attention. "The big, fat guy?"

"No, that's Santa Claus. The holiday is actually is celebrated by secular people as well. The basic gist is that Santa Claus comes to give presents to well behaved children."

"And this has what to do with the birth of their savior?" Nephrite asked.

"To be honest, I have no idea. I only got the parts that we've adopted in Japan. Basically everybody eats a lot and gives presents," she said, cutting the explanation short. "Rei would probably know."

Nephrite shrugged. "Eating a lot and giving out presents seems like a good holiday for me."

"So you say, you're not eating hospital food," she muttered.

"But you'll be home by then," Nephrite pointed out.

"Unfortunately, a lot of stuff gets closed for Christmas. I'm just lucky that there's enough of a Jewish population that some things will remain open," Ami said.

Nephrite was getting antsy, so she changed the subject. "Have you found out anything about those two senshi?"

"No. They haven't reappeared at all." Nephrite pursed his lips. "At least that probably means that the miko hasn't done anything else either."

She had forgotten about the mysterious miko. What would a miko be doing in sub-urban America? It was a multi-cultural community, but she was almost positive that there was no Shinto temple nearby.

"I'm sure we'll find them again, eventually," she said.

"Not if they don't want us to find them," Nephrite grumbled. "I've been looking everywhere but I haven't found even a hint." He sighted and stared at his hands. "This is Kunzite's thing not mine," he added quietly.

Kunzite had been the one to track down the senshi and find out the true Princess while Nephrite was led on a wild goose chase. Ami squeezed his arm reassuringly. "You'll find them, it will just take time."

---

Once Ami had seen Rei get safely into her cab and on her way to the airport, she collapsed on the living room sofa, bouncing Luna into the air.

"Hey!" the plushie protested before kneading her pillow back into a comfortable shape.

Ignoring her, Ami flipped on her television and searched out the Macy's parade. It wasn't exactly exciting, but what else was there to do on Christmas morning. She had gone to Mass with Rei the night before, but it hadn't been remotely interesting.

She scratched beneath the top edge of her leg brace and swung her leg up on top of the coffee table. It was hardly ladylike, but nothing really was when one leg always stuck out straight.

A loud knock on the door distracted her from the parade. She looked down at her brace in annoyance. "Luna, would you get that?"

"With an exaggerated sigh, Luna transformed into her humanoid form and headed for the front door. "Oh boy!" she said upon opening it.

Ami turned around in time to see Nephrite stumble in, completely overburdened with bags and boxes. Luna took a few so he could remove the handle of one from his mouth. "I am never doing anything for your friends again," he grumbled as he set his things down on her kitchen counter.

"What are they?" Ami asked. She grabbed her crutches and hobbled over to examine things.

"These," Nephrite said, indicating the majority of the bags, "are from Jupiter and Turtle-boy." He peeked into the nearest one. "I think it's food."

"That's quite a lot," Luna broke in.

"The others are from the Princess and Venus. One of them is for Luna," Nephrite continued. Stretching his arms, he added, "Why couldn't your friends just send you a card?"

Ami ignored him and opened the package nearest to her. Inside was an enormous shortcake, smothered in whipped cream. "This is definitely from Usagi."

Across the counter, Nephrite was watching Luna with amusement as she tore into a wrapped packaged with her name on it. "All right!" she exclaimed as she pulled out a massive cosmetic case.

The next box Ami opened was filled to the brim with cookies," Makoto," she mumbled around the one she had popped into her mouth.

The rest contained more sweets, Minako's latest CD and DVD, a few get well cards, a stuffed fish, a sonogram print out (obviously a girl) and a good luck charm in the shape of a turtle.

"That's a lot of crap," Nephrite remarked as Ami swept the wrapping into the garbage can.

She tried not to smirk as she offered him a snickerdoodle. "Well, I guess they've forgiven me for not talking to them for a month."

"What? Did you expect them to just forget about you?" Luna asked with a mouth full of whipped cream and cake.

Nephrite examined an éclair with suspicion. "Try it, it won't kill you," Ami chided him.

---

Once they had gorged themselves on sugar an, they all crowded back onto the couch. Warm and full, Luna fell asleep almost instantly after turning back into a stuffed animal. Nephrite's eyes were half open as he sprawled across more than his half of the sofa.

"I ate too much," Ami moaned.

"Poor baby," Nephrite said, too lazy to even lift his head to look at her. She poked him in the stomach and he groaned.

Scot ting over, she leaned into his non-bruised side. 'You're too bony to be a pillow," she remarked.

"I apologize with all the sincerity required," he said

At the mention of apologies, she froze. Without looking at him, she blurted out," I'm sorry for going after that youma myself.

Nephrite shrugged. "I was just worried about you," he said dismissively. "I should have known you'd go after it."

"I just," she stopped mid-sentence. _I just what?_ "I just felt like I needed to be doing something." She felt more guilty about the fact that she hadn't more to stop the youma than anything self.

Nephrite rested his cheek against the top of her head. "Ami-chan, you aren't a senshi. You don't have to do anything."

Although she smiled at he affectionate address, she didn't feel any better. "Sometimes I wish I wasn't just Ami-chan. It feels like there's...something missing lately. I even kind of like it when you aren't paying attention and call Mercury."

"I though you didn't like fighting?" Nephrite remarked.

"I don't. But..it feels like I'm supposed to do something but I don't know what it is," she said.

"Are you sure it isn't something more everyday? Maybe you forgot to feed your fish something."

For a moment she wasn't sure whether Nephrite was being serious or not but then she considered it in earnest. "No. The last time I felt like this was the months right before I met Usagi." She sighed. "I guess I"ll have to wait and see what happens. Or not."

To change the subject, she brought up the other thing she'd been mulling over since she had been released from the hospital. "Have you decided whether you're going to head back to Japan?"

"I think I'll stay over here for the time being. There are too many strange things happening and we should get more information on them." Nephrite stopped , then added. "And by we, I mean Luna and myself."

"I know, I know. I was just thinking that maybe you could stay here with me instead of teleporting all the time," she said quickly, before she lost her nerve.

Nephrite was quiet and Ami worried whether she'd been too forward. But to her surprise it wasn't her he was concerned about. "Won't people think it's...strange?" he asked.

"Not really. People around here just mind their own business." It was true. She had a vague idea of what her neighbors looked like, but she couldn't remember their names.

"I was actually more concerned about your mother," Nephrite said.

"Why? Are you afraid of her?" Ami teased.

Nephrite took his time coming up with a response. "You said she was worried that you would get distracted from your work. And I can tell you get upset when you do something you don't think she'd approve of."

At least he wasn't opposed to the idea because he didn't want tot stay with her. "I don't have to tell her. And figuring out what's going on is a little more important than me feeling guilty."

Clearly still unsure, Nephrite reluctantly agreed. "If you don't think anyone would mind, it could work. I guess I'd blend in better if I didn't just appear randomly."

"Good. It will give me a good excuse to buy some new furniture too," Ami said, trying to lighten the mood. "You're too big to sleep on the couch." _And everyone in Japan would definitely start to talk if you were sleeping in my bed_, she added to herself.


	10. Chapter 10

For the third night in a row, Ami woke up with a start. She was drenched in sweat, and with a sigh she felt between her legs. It had been such a vivid dream that turned into a nightmare.

All three dreams started out the same way; with Nephrite doing far more than just sleeping on her couch. But every time he had changed into someone or something else: Kunzite, Dark Mercury, a youma, all things she feared. _That youma must have affected me more than I thought._

Her heart was still racing and she sat up in the dark with a quiet groan. There was no way she was going to fall back asleep when she was still trying to shake off the effects of the dream. It was already five a.m. and she had to be up in an hour for work, so she rolled out of bed and padded her way down the hall into the kitchen.

Her efforts to be quiet were in vain, because as soon as she opened the refrigerator door, Nephrite woke up, falling off the sofa as he jerked awake. "Ami-chan?" he asked groggily as he staggered to his feet. He squinted in the darkness. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just woke up early," she said. She poured herself a glass of orange juice while Nephrite watched.

"You sure? You're sweating," he pointed out.

Suddenly she was reminded of their conversation in the hospital. Was sweat the only thing he could smell on her? She hurriedly slammed the refrigerator shut and rushed with her drink to the bathroom.

The juice didn't taste like anything as she waited for the hot water to kick in. She laid her face on the cold tile. She'd been so excited for Nephrite to move in that she forgot about the times when she didn't want him to know what she was doing.

When she came back from her shower and put her glass in the sink, Nephrite was sound asleep again and snoring loudly. Luna, apparently unperturbed by his impression of a saw mill, was asleep on his pillow. They got on surprising well, in Ami's opinion, despite their nearly completely opposite personalities.

The microwave's clock read five thirty and Ami silently glared at it. She was set to return to work at eight, but instead of the normal desire to help she only dreaded returning to the hospital. How much had her injury cost the project? Even if their research was continuing on schedule, it never looked goo to have the project head missing so much work. Still, with her leg out of commission, she'd have plenty of time to catch up.

The day with filled with lots of "get wells" and "feel betters." Many of her little patients were more concerned about her than for their own conditions. However, beneath the good wishes of the rest of the staff, Ami could read the underlying question of "Can she still do her job?"

Luckily, she had very few duties that required her to remain standing. Things had gone so smoothly that she'd even found the the time to ask the nurses in the maternity ward about doctor recommendations. The senior nurse, a rather obese, blonde woman named Dorothy, had pretended to be indignant about the perceived slight to their doctors on call until Ami explained it was for herself and not a patient.

In the end, she had walked out with the numbers of several local, OB-GYN offices, one of which was bound to have a schedule she could work with. With that accomplished, she spent the rest of her meager spare moments with a phone book, looking for a store that sold futons.

Luna had news for her when she returned home. "Minako was attacked by a youma early this morning," the plushie said before Ami even got all the way through the apartment door.

All of Ami's plans for the evening were forgotten. "What happened?" she asked as the color drained from his face.

"She and Artemis were at a late-night signing when the people in line started fainting. Luckily, Artemis was able to use Minako's cellphone to call Mamoru and here. Nephrite went off to help." Luna was calm and her lack of concern eased Ami's panic.

"He hasn't come back yet?" Ami asked.

"No, but the other tennou probably got involved as well." Luna hopped up on the sofa and made herself comfortable. "I'm sure we would have been notified already if something went wrong."

_Youma outbreaks are routine, _Ami told herself, remembering what Nephrite had said to her before the attacks in America were serious. "I wonder if this is related to the attack here," Ami thought out loud.

Luna pondered the idea for a moment, then said, "I hope not, the idea of the senshi being specifically targeted is not one I'd like to entertain."

It wasn't until after she had supper and finished the dishes that Nephrite reappeared looking distinctly disgruntled but unharmed. "What a waste of time," he muttered.

"Is everyone all right?" Ami asked as he walked over to the kitchen sink. When he came into the light, she could see the dirt smudges all over his arms and face. "You're filthy," she remarked.

"I know," Nephrite sighed. "I got tossed around a bit in the back room. Luckily I didn't injure anything but my pride."

"Did the other senshi turn up?" Luna asked as he washed his hands.

"No, and neither did the miko," he replied. "Venus was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." He walked over to the small duffel bag with his things and rummaged around until he found clean clothes. "Ugh," he said while examining himself. "I need a bath."

Ami nodded. "The towels are in the closet," she said as Nephrite headed down the hallway.

A few minutes and much swearing behind the closed door later she could hear the faucet running. "I'm glad that it was just a random youma," she told Luna.

"Me too, although it would be nice to find out some new information," Luna replied.

As Luna continued to speak Ami's thoughts began to drift. She tried to pay attention, but her thoughts kept turning to Nephrite, wet, soapy and naked a few doors away. _What were we talking about again?_

Luna was smirking at her. "You have no idea what I just said, do you?"

Blushing, Ami shook her head, "Was it important?"

"Thankfully, no," Luna said.

With an apologetic smile, Ami picked up the work she brought home and stared blankly at it in an attempt to distract herself. She had so much work to catch up on that she just couldn't afford to be daydreaming.

She was completely absorbed in a case study when Nephrite announced to no one in particular that he smelled like a girl. She added soap to the list of things she needed to buy for him. Maybe they could go shopping when she returned from work the next day.

--

Nephrite was already awake when she stumbled into the kitchen and Luna was already gone. "You're up early," she remarked as she put water on to boil.

"Someone was using my head as a chew toy in their sleep," Nephrite said grumpily. "I didn't get any sleep."

Ami stifled a laugh and tried to be sympathetic, "Why don't you go back to bed?" she asked.

He leaned over the edge of the couch and stretched his back. "I'm too stiff now, I'll try later."

"Hopefully we can call a cab after I get home and we can go furniture shopping," she said. "And we can buy some non-scented soap for you. Unless you like the way you smell."

"I like the way _you_ smell so long as the smell stays on you," he said. "Men shouldn't smell like cherry blossoms or rice blossoms or any other kind of blossoms."

"Okay, well be ready by four," she said as she put her Pop-Tart in the toaster oven. "We need to get going early if we're going to be able to hit all the shops before they close."

--

By an incredible stroke of luck, Ami managed to hitch a ride home with Dorothy at three thirty. She began making a list of the places they needed to visit as she limped up the stairs. If they timed it right, they could call a cab, walk through town to the stores and then call a cab to come home. Pleased with her planning, she unlocked the front door, "Nephrite, I-"

Nephrite was attempting to use his teeth to pry open a jar of pickles, which would have been merely amusing if he had bothered to redress after his bath. He stared at her, eyes wide like a deer in headlights.

Like watching a train wreck, Ami couldn't tear her eyes away or move from the open doorway. The two stood staring at each other for several heartbeats until Nephrite finally had the presences of mind to grab the hand towel from the refrigerator door handle.

"You said you weren't coming home until four," he huffed, trying to strategically arrange the woefully inadequate piece of cloth.

Ami tried in vain to keep her eyes on his face and not on the lean muscles of his torso. "I said 'be ready by four' actually," she retorted. She edged over to his bag and tossed a pair of pants at him. "I'm going to the bathroom."

When she came back, Nephrite had managed to dress completely but was standing sullenly by the door. "Where are we going?" he asked shortly.

"There's a store that sells nothing but futons nearby," Ami said, "If you're ready to go, I'll call the taxi company."

Nephrite just grunted and crossed his arms, which she took as a yes. He responded monosyllabicly to anything she tried to say during the entire ride to town and eventually she gave up trying to talk completely.

The pretty, female employee at the futon store was extremely helpful and even spoke Japanese but Nephrite was just as short with her. "I apologize," Ami told her in English so Nephrite wouldn't overhear, "He got attacked by my cat this morning and hasn't had a very good day."

The clerk just smiled, "Even boyfriends can be temperamental."

Without warning, Nephrite dashed out the door of the shop, leaving the door swinging wildly, which saved Ami from attempting to explain the nature of their relationship. "What the hell?" she muttered under her breath as she hobbled over to the window.

There was nothing unusual in the street, just a bunch of punk teenagers and a few upper-class window shoppers in fur coats sitting on a bench. A light snow was falling, but it was only sticking where there was already snow. She scratched her head, maybe Nephrite felt something she didn't.

Trying to behave like everything was perfectly normal, Ami paid for an extra-long futon and arranged for it to be de4livred the next day. Nephrite or Luna would have to take the delivery but it would be easy. When he didn't return ever a few minutes after the transaction was completed, she zipped her coat up and headed back into the snowy street by herself.

She didn't have to wait long, because Nephrite turned the corner, sweating and out of breath. "I saw the miko," he said between gasps, "She's fast."

"You couldn't catch her?" Ami asked.

"She was dressed in civilian clothes, and I lost her on the main avenue."

She reached out to squeeze his shoulder, but he pulled away from her. Confused, Ami turned to watch a young, lesbian couple pause to look in the display window of the jewelry store across the street. "We'll have better luck next time," she said softly.

Nephrite sighed loudly. "I could sense some very weak Dark Energy downtown. I think there was a youma attack earlier that we missed."

"That means those senshi were probably here as well." Ami chewed her lip as she thought. Nephrite caught his breath, but still seemed annoyed. She was afraid to ask him to look for the senshi when he was clearly upset about something.

"I think we should go home," she said slowly, watching Nephrite carefully. He seemed relieved at the suggestion. "I'm too much of a liability if there's trouble," she added looking at her brace in disgust.

Nephrite just nodded and she called the cab to return to her apartment.


	11. Chapter 11

AN - Two updates this week because I'll be at AnimeNorth next Sunday.

--

When Ami returned from work the next day, both Luna and Nephrite were nowhere to be found. Her anxiety increased with each passing minute as the time sped by with no word from them. It wasn't until she was brushing her teeth before bed that she heard the front door open and they stumbled in out of the cold.

Both of them looked exhausted and Ami didn't like the worried look in Nephrite's eyes. "Did you find out anything?" she asked slowly.

"I'm positive those senshi must live around here," Luna said. "They show up too quickly to be coming all the way from Japan."

"There was another youma then," Ami said.

"It was weaker than the youma that was after you," said Nephrite, "but it was still too strong for the two of us to beat alone." He refused to look at her as he spoke.

_Wounded pride, _Ami said to herself.

Luna started pacing. "It seems that the foreign senshi are Neptune and Uranus." She tapped one finger on her temple. "I don't remember a Sailor Neptune or Sailor Uranus."

"I don't remember much, but I'm sure I would have remembered senshi who were that strong," Nephrite broke in. "They could take out your Princess even when she's at full power."

_Usagi. _Usagi was at her weakest with a baby on the way. The new youma perfect timing that way. "At least this is happening here and not in Tokyo," Ami thought aloud.

"Yes, but why here?" Nephrite asked. There was a hard edge to his voice. "What information are we missing?"

Luna took a leftover Christmas cookie and chewed it pensively. "Ami, are there any important landmarks or anything you can think of around here?

After a moment, Ami said, "Not anywhere in the vicinity. New York City has that sort of thing, but we're awfully afar out on the island for the attacks to be originally from there."

"I"m going back out," Nephrite said suddenly and he disappeared before Ami could ask him where he was going.

--

The sound of his fist on the grimy stone echoed down the empty corridor. He welcomed the pain in his fingers as a distraction from the noise in his head. He'd purposely come to the darkest tunnels of the former Dark Kingdom knowing that his companions would bother him there. Somehow the cold, wet stone and damp air seemed appropriate to him at the moment.

There was too much going on at once, and the appearance of the new senshi was only making things worse. As much as he disliked working with anyone, having them as enemies would be a disaster.

"Why is this happening now?" he growled at the stale air. He couldn't protect the Princess and Ami at the same time and he couldn't protect anyone while he was so much weaker than their enemies.

The youma that had attacked Ami was affecting her more than she was telling them. He could smell the fear on her when she woke in the morning, she was obviously having nightmares, and more than once he'd caught her jumping at sudden movement. She didn't feel safe even when he was around and it made him feel worthless. Fighting was what he did and if he became ineffective then what good was her?

_I can't even find the enemy, let alone destroy it._ He fumed for a few moments, then tried to put his thoughts towards something more constructive.

Clearly he needed help. This sort of thing was right up Kunzite's alley, but Kunzite could be such a bastard sometimes. He had more than enough to deal with without getting into a fight with another guardian.

Jadeite was weaker than he was and therefore not much of a help.

Zoisite...information was Zoisite's specialty and if anyone was going to remember any extra senshi it was bound to be the white tennou.

Finding Zoisite was always easy, he was either at his piano or unconscious (and on occasion, both.) He had taken to locking his door after the wire cutting incident and Nephrite had to knock loudly for several minutes before he bothered to answer it.

"Oh, I'm sorry Nephi-chan, I though you were Kunzite," the white haired tennou said as he re-seated himself and the restored piano. His chamber looked much the same as it did while under Beryl's control. The only real difference was the lack the awful feel of Queen Metallia permeating the air.

"Zoi, I need help," Nephrite said with a sigh.

Zoisite's fingers, poised to hit the first notes, dropped. "What do you need me to do?" he asked earnestly.

Nephrite blinked. "I was expecting to have to grovel a bit, why are you so eager to help?"

"Carefully putting the lid down over the keys, Zoisite said, "You asking for help is like Kunzite apologizing for being a jackass: It just doesn't happen. On the rare occasions it does, I know something is very much not right with the world."

"It's the youma in America," Nephrite said, but Zoisite just stared at him until he elaborated. "They're strong. Stronger than I am."

"I know you're not here to ask me to fight your battles for you," Zoisite said.

"No, someone is already doing it. Actually someones," Nephrite said. "Do you remember Sailor Neptune or Sailor Uranus?"

Zoisite was silent for so long Nephrite wasn't sure if he had heard. Finally Zoisite said, "I don't remember any senshi besides the ones protecting the Princess, but that doesn't mean that there weren't any behind the scenes. We weren't exactly privy to the inner workings of the Moon Kingdom."

"These two are stronger than the guardian senshi. Much, much stronger. They're easily as strong as the Princess," Nephrite said, beginning to pace.

"You think they're a danger?" Zoisite asked. He narrowed his pale eyes and stared off into space.

"They've been destroying youma, but.." Nephrite stopped to think. "They seem like they're looking for something."

"Looking for something?" Zoisite repeated, his gaze snapping back to Nephrite.

"Yea, and there's a miko looking for something as well," Nephrite said. "What if they're looking for something like the Ginzuishou?"

Zoisite drew a shaky breath. "You want to find out what they're searching for."

Nephrite nodded slowly. "Can you find out?"

"I can try. There may be some clues in the past," said Zoisite. "Do you want to try as well?"

"I would just be wasting my time," Nephrite muttered.

Zoisite cocked an eyebrow but said nothing about Nephrite's comment. I'll do my best. Obviously she's important to you."

"She?" Nephrite asked.

Zoisite smiled enigmatically. "Well, I haven't heard you fighting with Kunzite or Jadeite lately, you leave for days at a time and now you've shown up smelling like a woman's perfumed soap asked for help."

To hide his blush, Nephrite made a show of rubbing his eyes. He'd actually grown fond of the smell, it reminded him o her even when she was off at work. "She's important to more than just me."

--

When Ami opened the apartment door, she didn't recognize her visitor until he asked for Nephrite. "Zoisite," she exclaimed as she let him inside.

Without the white hair and uniform, Zoisite looked like the average, trendy university student, and unlike Nephrite, he seemed to be completely at ease dressed as a human. As soon as he was fully inside the apartment, however, he shifted back into his usual form.

Nephrite joined the two near the door. "Did you find anything?" he asked anxiously.

Zoisite shook his head. "Nothing, and neither Kunzite e nor Venus remembered anything."

"Damnit," Nephrite spat.

"Maybe we should ask Queen Serenity," said Luna from her spot on the counter.

"No!" the two men said simultaneously and Ami was taken aback at their reluctance to do so, especially after the Queen's help with Mio.

"I'll keep trying Zoisite said. "I suggest you try too," he added with a nudge before teleporting away.


	12. Chapter 12

"Oh, I beg your pardon," Ami apologized after nearly knocking someone over. She had been concentrating so hard on the patient's chart as she hurried down the hall that she hadn't even seen them.

Her victim blinked slowly at her with big, black eyes. The girl was barely as tall as Ami's nose and was carrying a medicine tray. "It's okay," she answered in a voice so soft that Ami could barely hear it over the hospital noise.

Now that Ami's attention was fully on the girl, she realized that he baggy clothes that hung limply on her thin frame was really a candy striper's uniform. "Are you a volunteer on this floor?" Ami asked gently.

The girl nodded and tucked her chin length hair behind her ear with her free hand. "Yes, but I normally help out in patient records."

"Ah, well, I'm Doctor Mizuno," Ami said, holding out her hand.

"Hotaru Tomoe," the girl returned, hesitantly shaking the offered hand.

"Pleased to meet you. If you have question about the pediatric floor, feel free to ask me," Ami said.

Hotaru bowed slightly. "Okay, thanks." She scurried off down the hallway to continue with her duties.

Ami smiled at the retreating volunteer. Hotaru reminded her a lot of herself four years ago, before she became a senshi. The girl had a slight accent too. _I wonder if her parents are immigrants._ There were enough foreign students, professors and researchers around that she would hardly be surprised if they were.

But she didn't have too long to dwell on it. She had to do all her normal rounds before the rush of New Year's drunks started.

--

Nephrite was sprawled out across the futon and staring blankly at the ceiling when she came home. He made no move to acknowledge her presence and barely even looked at her when she greeted him. He'd been in the same mopey mood since Zoisite had visited and it was beginning to truly worry her.

After grabbing a bottle of water, she sat down on the armrest of the futon. "Are you going to watch the ball drop with me tonight?"

"Ball drop?" Nephrite asked.

"Yup. It's New Years Eve here. We have to stay up until midnight," she explained, nodding towards the paper decorations her mother had sent her. "To celebrate the traditional American way we should get completely drunk first, but I'll settle for just my water."

"What a boring holiday," Nephrite muttered.

She leaned over and poked him in the side. "Other people go to big, fancy parties," she said, poking him again for emphasis as he squirmed away. "But boring people who sit around on the couch don't get invited to such things."

He didn't respond in the slightest to her goading and she sighed dramatically. "Fine, be a party pooper. It's just that I need my kiss at midnight," she said, raising her voice to be heard down the hall, "and someone's breath smells like tuna fish!"

"That's not my fault," Luna yelled back from the bathroom.

Nephrite had returned to the examination of the stucco texture on the ceiling. "I still say it's a stupid way to spend a holiday."

Ignoring him, Ami flipped on the television. The New Year's programming wouldn't start until later, but something interesting was bound to be on.

Four hours later there was still nothing interesting on. Nephrite had dozed off after a discussion about other New Year's traditions and Ami was beginning to think she would be joining him, whether purposely or not. Still, it would be a shame to fall asleep ten minutes before the year turned.

With five minutes left, she nudged Nephrite. He slapped her hand away, but she persisted. When he finally opened his eyes, she asked him if he'd given any thought to his resolution.

"No, not really," he said. He leaned back into a long stretch. "The only thing I've been contemplating is the back of my eyelids."

To tell the truth, Ami hadn't been thinking about hers, either. It seemed that most of her colleagues were choosing to stop smoking, lose weight or get rid of some other voice that she didn't have. Still there had to be some short-coming that she could work on. After all, no one was perfect.

She was still thinking about it when the television started to count down. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1-... "Happy New Year," she cheered.

Luna rolled over and mumbled something.

"Happy New Years," Nephrite said and leaned in to kiss her more tenderly than she expected. Still, he made no effort to draw her closer or deepen the kiss. "I figured out my resolution," he said as he drew away.

_To kiss me more often?_ But when he didn't elaborate, Ami just shrugged. "I hope you can keep it.

A confused look crept over Nephrite's face. "Where's your brace?" he asked, touching her leg gently.

"They took it off today. Glad you finally noticed," she said and stuck her tongue out. "I should have the stitches out in a few days."

She flipped the television off and snuggled up to Nephrite as he stretched out to go to sleep. _This year I"m going to make him really mine._

_--_

Ami awoke to a strange predicament and the last one she expected to be dealing with so soon after her resolution. The sun from the balcony window was shining in her eyes and it took her a few moments before she realized she had fallen asleep on the futon in the living room.

That was when she realized the problem she was facing if she wanted to go back to sleep. She was a little unsure whether she was excited or embarrassed, but waking Nephrite up to say 'Hey, your erection is poking me in the butt,' seemed like the wrong thing to do.

It wasn't that she minded so much as that it was a distraction. She was just trying to inch away when he pulled her back against him, sleepily nuzzling into the side of her neck. _Fine time to be snuggly._ His hand came to rest on her lower stomach while she debated the need to squirm away.

As her body began to react to the way he was pressed to her, she knew that of all the things she could do, going back to sleep was not one of them. It was getting warmer by the second, even without the blanket still sitting over the top of the futon. Nephrite mumbled something in her ear and squeezed her. _Damnit, why does he only want me in his sleep._

She happened to glance at the fist tank across the room. "Oh no," she cried when she looked again. "Mikey!"

Poor Michael the goldfish had come to rest belly up at the top of the tank. Tapping on the side of the glass only proved that Mikey had joined his brethren in the big pet shop in the sky.

"What's going on?" Nephrite asked surreptitiously readjusting himself. He sat up with a groan. "Who's Mikey?"

"My goldfish," Ami sighed. Mikey's companions didn't seem horribly distraught at their tank mate's untimely demise. "I've had him since I moved here and now he's gone and died."

Nephrite joined her at he side of the tank. "Whoa, he is...was a big fella."

"They'll grow to be nearly a foot long if you have a tank big enough," Ami said miserably as she dug around for the net.

"I bet he's even too big to flush," Nephrite said, prodding him with his finger.

"Stop that," Ami said sharply as she went to fish the scaly remains out and into a plastic bag. "I wasn't planning on flushing him."

Nephrite glanced out the window. "You can't bury him while the ground is still frozen," he pointed out.

Sealing the bag, Ami said, "I'm going to put him in the freezer."

"That's disgusting," Nephrite protested with a grimace.

"Why? It's not like I ever have any food in there." She was already heading for the kitchen. True to her word, the only other occupants of the soon-to-be fish morgue were a tray of ice cubes and a frozen dinner that was frozen to the bottom of the compartment.

"Tea?" she asked as she went over to the cabinet. As she reached in for a mug, the teapot Nephrite had given her fell over and rolled over the ledge. It bounced nearly off the counter top and hit the floor with a large crash.

She could see at once that it was beyond repair. Even if she could gather all of the pieces they were far too small to ever form something stable. Distraught, she bent over to pick up the pieces before someone stepped on them, and as she slip under the counter the tears began to fall.

At the sound of the crash, Nephrite came over to investigate. Before he could open his mouth to ask if she wanted help, he heard her sniffle. Crouching down to her level he could see that she really was crying. He grabbed her hand as she reached for another shard. "Ami, it's just a teapot. I'll buy you another one."

"It's not just that," Ami replied as another tear rolled down. "A new year shouldn't start out like this."

Nephrite grasped her under her arms and picked her up. He placed her neatly on the counter and stood between her legs. "You've still got the rest of the day, right?" he said, wiping her cheek. When she didn't reply, he put his forehead to hers. "Right?"

She tried to smile. "Right." Both of her arms wrapped around his neck to pin him in place. "I don't see how this could get any worse."

"You could be standing on a piece of broken porcelain like I am," Nephrite offered and she let her grip loosen enough so he could kick the offending object away.

With their faces inches away, Ami began to wonder if she should invest in a blinking, neon "kiss me, you fool" sign to wear on top of her head. Finally, she gave up trying to be coy and leaned in to kiss him, catching him completely off guard. Thankfully, he didn't pull away and when she flicked her tongue out slightly, he took the bait and leaned into kiss her properly.

Instantly she realized why he had been hanging back. Even through all of their clothes she could feel his heat and hardness between her legs and the effect on her one immediate. Her stomach began tying itself in knots as he legs tightened involuntarily around the back of his thighs.

One of his arms was wrapped around her lower back and the other hand was cradling her head. As his lower hand started skirting the edge of her waistline, she heard Luna clear her throat loudly. Over the rushing of the blood in her ears she heard, "There's a time and place for everything, you two. The kitchen counter in broad daylight isn't it."

Ami chucked the nearest object, a hand towel, in Luna's general direction but it was too late: Nephrite had already pulled away. He yanked the hem of his shirt down and headed for his bag. After digging around a big, he announced that he was going to visit the other Shitennou and left.

Ami gave Luna a dirty look and headed into her bedroom to call everyone back in Japan. No one would be at work because of the holiday, so she didn't have to worry about keeping anyone up.

Her mother was at the hospital, predictably, so she just left a message. Rei was buys, probably helping out with the ceremonies, so she left a message there as well. Minako had just enough time to tell her Happy New Year because she had actually performed and was on her way back to Europe.

She was hesitant to call Usagi. Not that she didn't want to talk to her friend, but she was still feeling guilty about not even knowing Usagi was pregnant. Luckily, Usagi was never one to hold a grudge. "I'm not mad, Ami-chan," she assure her. "We were just afraid something happened to you."

"Something did happen to me, but not what you think," Ami said.

"I also wanted to tell you my news myself but someone beat me to it," Usagi said happily. "Can you imagine me a mom?"

_Ikuko-mama Junior, _Ami thought. "I figured you would be, someday."

"I redid our extra bedroom all in pink for a nursery. Mamo-chan says it looks like a cotton-candy machine blew up in it," Usagi giggled.

"How is he taking impending fatherhood?" Ami asked.

"I think he's nervous," Usagi said slowly. "But also excited." She paused. "The Shitennou are excited as well. I don't think my daughter will ever have to worry about schoolyard bullies."

But Ami remembered how strong the youma were becoming and wondered if the littlest Princess might have something bigger to worry about. "Usagi," Ami said carefully. "Do you think there are other senshi?"

"What do you mean?"

_How to word this? _"Well, there are nine planets, right? So do you think there might be nine senshi?" Ami asked.

"Oh," Usagi sounded thoughtful. "I guess I never thought about it, but it makes sense. I don't remember any other senshi besides you guys."

"Me either," Ami said, then added casually, "it was just something that popped into my head the other day."

"You are strange sometimes," Usagi said with a giggle.

After she hung up with Usagi, she called Makoto, hoping that she wasn't going to interrupt any "quality time". To her relief, Makoto insisted that she was just making some tea before bed.

"So, what's up?" Makoto asked.

"I called to wish you a happy new year," Ami said.

"I know that. But you sound like you've got something on your mind," Makoto said. "Where's Nephrite?"

Ami sighed. "I think he's gone off to masturbate."

For a moment the only sound on the line was Makoto choking on her tea. "One, that was way too much information, and two, why aren't you with him then," she said hoarsely.

"There's something wrong. He's been acting a little weird since I got out of the hospital. Sometimes he seems hesitant about touching me," Ami said. "And when I do try to get him riled up, he usually pulls away."

"That doesn't sound very Nephrite-like to me. He always struck me of more of a 'rip your clothes off and throw you down on the nearest surface type," Makoto admitted. "I was actually little worried about you at first."

"I wish," Ami replied. "I didn't expect him to be so...chaste! I thought guys his age were supposed to be horny all the time."

"Ami-chan!" Makoto said. "Seriously, this is the last sort of thing I expected to hear coming out of your mouth. You're supposed to be complaining that he tried to slip you a bit of tongue, not complaining that you aren't getting any." She started laughing. "No one will ever believe I had this conversation with you."

"I wish I just knew why this was happening," Ami muttered.

"Well, have you done anything that would tell him that you weren't interested?" Makoto asked. "You didn't shut him down hard when he came on to you or something, did you?"

Ami thought for a moment. "You mean like when I asked him if he thought I was a prude and he thought I was implying that I thought he was just trying to get into my pants?"

Several seconds past. "Yes, something like that," Makoto replied. "He's probably holding himself back now. You have to convince him that you actually want it."

"What, you think I should just start unzipping his pants the next time I see him," Ami asked sarcastically.

Makoto started laughing again. "Only if you take a picture of his expression when you do. Oh man. That would be priceless."

"I wouldn't know what to do if I did," Ami said.

"While I'm sure he'd be a willing test dummy for you, maybe a more subtle method is in order," Makoto said, still giggling. "Have you tried doing something radical and novel like kissing him."

"Yes."

"And?"

Ami exhaled loudly. "I got a uh... rise out of him, but Luna interrupted us and that's when he ran off."

"That's a good start, I guess," her friend said. "Although next time I would suggest putting the cat out."

"I think she might have a few things to say about that," Ami said, already plotting ways to get Luna out of the apartment.

"Well, you can give me a very vague and non-descriptive report of how things are going later," Makoto said.

--

AN – Y'all lost the rest of this chapter thanks to the content restriction of by now you know where to find the uncensored version, right?

Anyway, thanks for the reviews and favs, sometimes they really are the kicks in the pants that I need to get going on the next chapter. No update next week though, I'll be at AnimeNorth.


	13. Chapter 13

Taking Nephrite to the grocery store may not have been Ami's best idea. It wasn't his constant questioning that was bothering her so much as the fact that the majority of the housewives in the store were openly leering at him. Nephrite was completely oblivious to the matter.

"What's that?" Nephrite asked as she put a small tub in the cart. "It looks nasty."

She rolled her eyes. "It's potato salad. You had it last week and said you liked it."

"That was last week," he said petulantly as he examined a package of package of processed cheese. His grasp of the English language must have been improving, because she heard him try to pronounce the words on the front.

She turned away to grab a jar of pickles. "Have you decided whether that is edible or not?" she asked without turning back. "Nephrite? Hello?" Curious, she looked over her shoulder.

His eyes were wide and every muscle in his body was tense like a pointing dog. "Where is it?" she asked, just before the shrieking started on the other side of the store.

There was a mass panic with everyone in the store making a mad dash to the exit. Ami and Nephrite hurried in the opposite direction and into the open middle of the store. A swarm of hideous creatures was surrounding two young women who were cowering on the tiled floor. The creatures had dry, cracked, brown skin and tiny mouths set in a shrunken face. They were completely naked their distended bellies hung swollen below their waist.

"How horrible," Ami whispered, stepping forward but Nephrite grabbed her arm.

"Run," he said urgently, but it was too late. Another crowd of the creatures were stumbling from the doors towards them.

"Hungry," whimpered one as it lunged at them. Nephrite easily knocked it away but more were already reaching for them.

Ami risked a glance at the trapped girls and saw that one of them had enough sense to try and beat them away were her purse. She looked around for something that could be used a as a makeshift bludgeon, but nothing was handy except a display of cereal. Nephrite stepped in front of her as he shifted from his human form.,

When the next one dove at them, he smoothly cut off its hand. The unfortunate creature wailed and two others dropped to the floor to lap up the thick blood that fell as Ami's stomach turned. When Nephrite struck down another, the rest of the mob tore it to pieces.

As soon as the attention was away from them, Ami headed toward the two other victims. However, another figure had beat her to them and the unknown miko lifted one of the trembling girls by her hair.

"Stop that!" Ami protested, already starting towards them.

The miko sneered and brought up an ofuda, but in the next moment all Ami could see or feel was the rushing of sea water. The next thing she knew she was watching the soggy shrine maiden pick herself up off the floor as two mini-skirted figures ran past.

Nephrite was beside her in an instant although he appeared unsure whether he wanted to stay back to protect or help. The creatures had all been swept behind the miko but more could appear.

"Stop right there," Sailor Uranus.

"I was already doing so," the miko snorted. A black cat Ami hadn't noticed before leapt up on her should and shook itself out. Unlike Luna or Artemis, this one appeared to be made of flesh and blood. "This one doesn't have a talisman." She dropped the helpless girl to the floor and kicked her.

Sailor Neptune ran forward but the miko easily slipped away and out of sight. The blue senshi knelt down by the two girls desperately trying to crawl away from her. "She's right. These two are just like the others," she said glumly.

Uranus muttered something under breath. "Let's go," she growled.

"Wait!" Ami cried out as they started to run. "What talismans are you looking for?"

Neither of the escaping senshi paid her any attention as they ran past. "Talisman?" questioned Nephrite.

"Later," Nephrite said. Sirens were just becoming audible in the distance. "We need to get out of here."

Ami cast a quick glance at the two victims. Both were shaken, a little bit bruised and soaking wet, but mostly unharmed. She needed at Nephrite. "Let's get out of here."

He turned back to a human and Ami started working herself into what she hoped looked like a youma induced hysteria. "What if those girls talk about me?" Nephrite asked.

"No one will ever believe them," Ami said, trying to well up fake tears. "With any luck, we'll slip away in confusion before anyone tries to question us."

"Why don't I just teleport us?" Nephrite asked.

She shook her head. "My car is in the parking lot. I don't want them to track me down from the license plate. Explaining the two undocumented people in my apartment would not be fun."

When Nephrite assured her that she looked suitably upset, they exited the building. Luckily the police were too busy trying to prevent complete pandemonium to deal with a hysterical woman and her non-English speaking boyfriend and sent them on their way.

Ami was nervous every time the telephone rang for the next few hours, but the only calls she received were trying to sell her something.

"What are you so worried about?" Nephrite asked as she stared at the door.

"It's just that I don't know what to tell people if they asked about you. You don't have any identification or a visa," Ami said.

Nephrite snorted. "I've got the papers I've forged when I was working at Krown. It will be easy enough to 'obtain' any paperwork for here."

"Are you sure that's safe to do?" Ami asked.

Nephrite smiled at her. "What are they going to do? Deport me? I can just teleport back in."

He was right, of course, but the idea of messing with any official documents didn't appeal to Ami. "If you're sure..."

--

The two of them were walking hand in hand across the strip mall's parking lot the next day when the screaming started. Even loaded down with their new groceries, Nephrite was quick to react, scanning the area for signs of the disturbance.

Moments later, they saw a young nun scramble out of the small religious shop with another woman in hot pursuit. At first glance it appeared that there was nothing unusual about the second woman, but then Ami saw that her long hair was not blowing in the slight breeze, but moving of its own accord.

"Stay here," Nephrite ordered, dropping the plastic bags at Ami's feet. Although he didn't transform, he ran towards the commotion at full speed.

Ami couldn't look away, not even long enough to pick up the cans that were rapidly escaping from the grocery bags. Nephrite put itself between the youma and its intended victim and she watched as it swung its hair like a whip, forcing him to roll out of the way.

The youma's hair whipped around again, wrapping around Nephrite's ankle and tripping him. As soon as he hit the ground it disregarded him and reached for the nun again. The nun, obviously terrified, was clasping her rosary like it was enough of talisman on its own to drive the youma off.

Talisman

As if on cue, a beam of light crashed into the creature and Ami immediately ran towards Nephrite. He was just getting to his feet as Sailor Neptune struck the youma from behind. "Are you hurt?" she asked and although he winced, he insisted he was fine.

A brilliant flash of light told them that the senshi had defeated the youma. The nun, however, was equally terrified of them and continued to scream as they approached her. Sailor Uranus was reaching for her when a black band appeared on the senshi's neck and she cried out.

"Haruka!" Neptune screamed and Nephrite was already on the alert.

Ami recognized the magic immediately and turned towards the footsteps coming at them all. "Your friend will be find when I release her. Just tell us what we want to know," Kunzite said casually.

"You bastard. What have you done to her?" Neptune hissed, but Kunzite just held up one gloved hand.

"Just tell us what we want to know," he repeated, "and no permanent damage will be done. Who do you work for?"

"We don't work for anyone," Uranus croaked.

"Oh? Then why are you after these people?" Kunzite asked. When he didn't get an answer right away, the lock of hair around Uranus' throat tightened.

Neptune gasped. "We're looking for the three talisman to stop the Silence from coming."

The hair loosened again. "And the miko?"

"We don't know. She wants the talisman as well. I doubt its for anything but to bring about the Silence," Neptune said. "Without them, the Messiah can't stop the Silence and existence as we don't know it will end."

"Who's the Messiah?" Kunzite asked.

"We don't know," Uranus spat.

"Hmmm..." Kunzite hummed thoughtfully for a moment and then the spell on Uranus was lifted. She glared angrily at the tennou, rubbing at her neck, but Neptune grabbed her hand and they fled.

Nephrite was glaring at Kunzite as well. Ami was more concerned about the alarming shad of grey the long-haired guardian had turned. She knew first hand how strong his magic was and to have him be drained so quickly made her extremely worried.

When he spoke, his voice lacked its usual measure of arrogance. "We need to find who the Messiah is."

"The miko must know," Ami said.

"We can't look for the talisman, the miko and the messiah all at once," Nephrite broke in.

"Those senshi are looking for the talismans. If you two help them, you'll stop the miko," Kunzite said slowly. "If the rest of us try to find the Messiah, we might have better luck."

"How can we help the senshi," Nephrite growled, "you saw the kind of youma we're dealing with."

Kunzite regarded him carefully. "I think you should have another talk with Zoisite," he said vaguely before teleporting away.

Nephrite snorted and mumbled, "What the hell is that supposed to do?"

While he fumed, Ami walked over the fallen Sister. "Are you alright?" she asked the trembling woman.

"What...what was that?" the woman asked through chattering teeth.

"Test of faith?" Ami said mildly. "Are you hurt?"

"No, no. The Lord watched over me." She took Ami's offered hand and got to her feet. "Thank you."

"Not a problem," Ami said, watching as Nephrite began collecting the runaway food. "They won't bother you again," she added and walked away.

--

"Talismans?" Luna asked, applying a thin layer of mayonnaise to a slice of bread. More than half of the kitchen counter was covered in assorted sandwich ingredients.

"That's what she said," Ami replied. She soaked a cotton pad in alcohol and dabbed at the scrapes on Nephrite's forearms. "There are supposed to be three of them." She ignored Nephrite's wince and reached for a bandage.

"How many do they have now?" Luna asked.

Ami paused. "I don't know." She looked at Nephrite, but he only shrugged. "Kunzite thought that we should continue looking for the senshi and the talisman."

"What about the miko?" The words were almost incomprehensible because of the huge hung of sandwich Luna had bitten off.

"If we help the senshi, we'll be keeping her from the talisman," Nephrite said. He stood up and kissed Ami on the cheek. "Hopefully the senshi really are telling the truth."

"You two are going to have to do any searching yourself for the next week or so. Some big name in the health care system wants to take a look at my research. Its going to be a week in hell getting it prepared," Ami said with a frown. The last thing she needed was to lose her grant because of some youma.


	14. Chapter 14

AN - Lost part of the chapter as well, but I think it still reads okay. Follow the profile for the Mature version.

* * *

Ami was sure she was seeing things at first, but when she crept closer she saw that it really was Nephrite and he really was talking to one of the students on campus. Torn between curiosity and feeling like she was being nosey, she tried to walk past them on the opposite side of the glass encased corridor.

The girl he was talking to was pretty, with almond eyes and wavy black hair. _She's probably half Caucasian, _Ami thought to herself. With a slight twinge of guilt she realized that she was happy that the girl didn't look too pleased to be talking to Nephrite.

Whatever they were discussing, it was animated and Ami had to turn and walk away before her staring attracted attention.

* * *

For some reason she couldn't get the girl and Nephrite out of her head. After several hours of reading, she slammed the cover of the medical journal closed and stood up. 

"Where are you going?" her partner asked as she fled the room.

"The gym," she called over her shoulder.

_You're just being silly, _she told herself as she crunched through the snow to the campus recreation building. In the women's locker room she dug through the small cubby-hole she rented and found her bathing suit.

Something about being submerged was soothing and she looked forward to a dip in the lap pool before returning to work. She would have to skip most of her lunch break, but she wouldn't be able to eat if she were preoccupied anyway.

There was one other swimmer in the pool, cutting through the water like a dolphin. Ami was just finishing stuffing her hair into a swimmer's cap and adjusting her goggles when the other occupant headed for the ladder. As soon as she pulled herself out of the pool, Ami's stomach lurched; it was the girl from earlier.

Even with a swimmer's cap and goggles around her neck the girl was stunning. Ami noted with a little jealousy that she filled out her racing style swimsuit nicely. She wished the girl would just leave, but she spotted Ami and waved.

"I don't normally see many people doing laps this early in the day," she said with a sweet smile.

Ami wanted to sink into the tile, but did her best to smile back. "I don't normally have a break now," she said.

"I couldn't get through my classes without a nice, long break in the middle," the other girl said.

"Oh, I'm not a student, I'm a doctor in the hospital." _At least I'm smarter than she is,_ Ami thought before giving herself a mental slap.

"Really? You look so young. I'm getting my Masters in Performance." There was no hint of bragging in the girls' voice and Ami felt even worse. "I'm Michiru, by the way."

_She's at least part Japanese then. _"What instrument?"

"Cell, mostly. Speaking of which, I have to run and get changed before my next practice session. Nice meeting you," Michiru said.

"Bye," Ami replied, watching her leave before sitting down on the edge of the pool. Somehow the water was no longer as inviting.

* * *

Nephrite and Luna were arguing over the television remote, but Ami barely even registered them as she trudged to her room that evening. She was over-worked, over-tired, overly-emotional and all she wanted was her bed.

* * *

Curiosity got the best of her and she timed her morning coffee break for the time she last saw Nephrite on campus and sure enough she felt a hot surge of jealousy, but the rational voice in her head tried to clam her down. _Maybe he's just making a friend._

Nephrite was cooped up with just Luna and herself most of the time. He probably did need to talk to someone else occasionally. _But why did he have to pick someone so pretty._

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. _I can't get myself worked up over this now._ Her work was already being reviewed and her stomach didn't feel like it could take any more stress. She looked back over her shoulder at Nephrite and smiled apologetically before slowly turning herself around.

* * *

"If you keep chewing on that pen, I'm positive it's going to explode," Dr Lyons said. 

Blushing, Ami took the pen out of her mouth and wiped it on the hem of her lab coat. She was much too nervous to sit in her tiny office, but there was nothing else to do.

Her research partner was sweating profusely although her was refraining from placing office supplies in his mouth. "Do you think we'll hear anything tonight?" he asked.

"I don't know," Ami said quietly. Her stomach lurched violently at the thought. She'd done her best preparing the reports but lately her best didn't seem to be good enough. "I've got to get out of here," she muttered and fled the room.

She gulped in the cold air of the courtyard and bent over to put her head between her legs. When she stood back up she was surprised to see a small figure sitting on one of the benches hidden in the bushes. Very few people were out in the courtyard in night, since there was no light except what came from the windows.

Concerned, she walked over and saw that it was a young girl as she came closer. The girl gave no indication that she even knew Ami was there. "Excuse me?" Ami said quietly and the girl jumped.

"Oh! Dr. Mizuno," the girl said breathlessly and as she raised her head Ami saw that it was the candy striper she had nearly knocked over on the pediatric floor. Hotaru looked completely bewildered.

"Are you okay?" Ami asked when Hotaru got unsteadily to her feet.

Hotaru's eyes were wide and she stared around in a daze. "Hmmm...yes. I must have just spaced out there for awhile."

"You're here late, are you waiting for a ride?" Ami asked, trying not to be obvious about visually examining Hotaru for bruises or abrasions.

"What? No, my father won't get home from the lab for hours. I need to start walking home," Hotaru tried to walk past Ami, but Ami turned and followed.

"Would you like me to drive you home?" Ami asked, rushing to catch up. "I really should be getting home myself."

"In the dark?" Ami asked. "I need an excuse to get out of here before I drive myself crazy, it is no problem to take you home."

Hotaru looked at her strangely. She tucked her hair behind her ear. "If you're sure it's no trouble," she said quietly.

"So which laboratory does your father work in?" Ami asked as she turned onto the highway.

Hotaru was staring out the window at the moon. "I don't know. It's privately owned and he's not supposed to tell me about it."

The idea struck Ami as a little odd, but some chemical companies would stoop to espionage against other companies. Someone's child could conceivably blurt out something important. "All I know is that he spends more time at the lab than he does at home," Hotaru added.

"I know what that is like," Ami said. "Sometimes I didn't see my mother for days at a time. Heck, sometimes I feel like I live at the hospital and not my apartment."

"Do you live by yourself?" Hotaru asked.

"Um... sort of. I have long term house guests but it is normally just me," Ami said after a moment's thought.

Hotaru turned to look at her and the street light reflections made the girl's thin face look almost cadaverous. "It's just my father and I and he's never home, so I'm usually by myself."

"Is that why you volunteer?" Ami asked, hoping that she wasn't prying.

"I also need community service in order to graduate," Hotaru said with a shrug.

"Well, at least you're starting early, right?" Ami said.

Hotaru shrugged again. "Not really. I graduate this spring. This is the turn."

"Really? I thought you were much younger than that, no offense intended," Ami said.

"Next left," Hotaru said. "No, I'm fourteen."

Ami smiled. "That's how old I was when I graduated and came to America."

Hotaru looked at her curiously, but only said, "This is my house on the corner."


	15. Chapter 15

AN - No censorship this time, yay! Also, my hits have gone dramatically. Have I started to suck, or are y'all just busy with finals and such.

--

She was shaking so hard that she had to pull over. Once stopped, she put the car in park and leaned over to rest her head on the top of the steering wheel. _How could this have happened?_

Dr. Lyons had taken the news much more gracefully. "It's not like they're pulling our funding," he had told her. It was true, but it didn't take the sting out of the review.

More documentation? Did they want her to live at the hospital? Of course they didn't know the problems she had to deal with, but even a normal person wouldn't be able to do all the work they wanted. How the hell was she supposed to save the world and work on the project at the same time? It just wasn't fair.

After a few deep breaths, she got herself back on the road. She was still sniffling when she got to the apartment and fumbled with the lock before she finally shoved the door open.

Nephrite looked up from the glass of milk he was pouring when she stormed in, "What happened?"

At first she wanted to spill the whole story, but then, in her mind's eye, she saw him talking to Michiru. "Nothing," she spat angrily and hurried door the hall to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

She could hear Nephrite coming down the hall and didn't answer when he banged on the door. "Ami-chan, what's wrong?" he asked. He continued to knock, refusing to just walk away like she'd hoped he would.

"I'm fine," she shouted, flopping back onto her bed.

"Bullshit," Nephrite said crossly. "You're obviously not fine."

"Go away!" she yelled and instantly regretted it.

There was a moment of silence. "Fine, I will," Nephrite growled and then the hall was quiet.

When she peeked out, there was no sign of him at all and she bit her lip. That wasn't exactly what she meant to happen. He was supposed to go back to the living room and let her fume, not actually leave.

She was too restless to lay still and mope. She reached for the phone to call her mother, but then thought for a second; the last thing she wanted was a lecture on not letting anything interfere with her work. Instead, she dialed Makoto's number, waiting impatiently until the voicemail picked up. _Damn_, she thought and hung up without leaving a message. _Why is no one around when I need them?_

_--_

"That was quick," Jadeite said as soon as Nephrite teleported in. The blond was sprawled across and armchair and fiddling with one of his daggers.

Zoisite cocked an eyebrow at him but didn't interrupt his playing until his piece was finished. Nephrite waited impatiently until Zoisite put away the sheet music and got out another piece. "I didn't expect you to return so soon either," he said, carefully arranging the vellum on his music stand.

"I wasn't planning on it," Nephrite huffed, crossing his arms and leaning his back on the piano. "Ami's mad about something."

Zoisite gave him a wry smile. "I don't suppose you have any idea what you did."

"I haven't done anything," Nephrite insisted. "I've actually been doing everything right for once."

"Maybe it's something you didn't do," Zoisite suggested. "When is her birthday?"

Nephrite had to think for a second. "I don't know, September?"

"Did she just turn twenty?" Nephrite repeated. "I think she's eighteen."

Zoisite shrugged. "You're just going to have to figure it out. If there's one thing I know about women, it's that they're better at mind games than even I am."

Nephrite fumed. Why was it that every time things seemed to be going well, something went terribly wrong. "Did Kunzite find out anything else about th attack on Jupiter?"

Jadeite looked up from the blade he was sharpening. "He's almost positive it was that crazy miko every one has been talking about, but other than that, no."

"That's three senshi that have been attacked recently. That can't be a coincidence," Zoisite muttered. He ran his fingers gracefully over the piano keys, but did not actually play a note. "We need to keep a closer eye on the remaining two, especially the princess."

"You mean that you have to keep a closer eye on the other two. I have enough to deal with as it is," Nephrite said crossly. "Jadeite hasn't done anything useful lately, we can make him do it."

"Hey!" Jadeite protested, but he had no defense against the accusation.

"While I'm here, though," Nephrite said. "I thought I should try to regain my memories again."

Zoisite's expression was unreadable. "It will require a lot of concentration," he said.

"I know." Nephrite sighed. He had quite a lot of time to try, repeatedly if need be, judging by the tone of Ami's voice. "I should probably be concentrating on something besides 'women are insane' anyway."

Zoisite turned to Jadeite. "You need to go then," he said, motioning towards the open door. "He won't be able to concentrate if you're here harassing him."

The youngest tennou sighed dramatically. "Oh sure, kick me out when someone else comes. You didn't have to tell me to go, I know when I'm not wanted." He clutched at his chest and put one hand to his forehead.

"Oh shut up and get the hell out of here," Nephrite said, rolling his eyes.

When the blond had left, Zoisite scrutinized Nephrite carefully. "Are you sure about this? You will remember the strongest memories first. They aren't likely to be happy ones."

"No one will be satisfied until I do this," Nephrite said simply.

Zoisite just shrugged again and pivoted in his seat. He took his time getting adjusted, reposition his music and flicking an invisible speck of dust off of the middle C. "Close your eyes," he instructed.

Nephrite took a deep breath and did as he was told. For many moments he wondered if this would be as fruitless as the lost time, but he heard Zoisite's voice in his head. _Open your mind. Let it come._

_--_

The granite floor was soaked in blood. The tattered remains of his cape stuck to it, absorbing the liquid until the fabric clung to his arms, face and neck as he struggled to stand.

_Is it mine?_

He could see the occasional flashes deeper down the palace hallways but he could hear nothing. The last explosion must have been too close. His sense of smell was gone as well and he wondered dimly if the pain in his lungs was from breathing in the superheated air.

Farther down the hall, he could see the smoking remains of one of the senshi, Jupiter by the color scheme, and hoped the girl had been dead before the she had burned. No one deserved to die that painfully, not even annoying princesses and their guardians. He stumbled in her direction with the idea that the battle would have headed that way.

The Shitennou had gotten separated during their search for the prince and with any luck Zoisite or Kunzite wold have gotten their master someplace safe, or whatever passed for a safe place in a besieged castle, even if it meant dragging him kicking and screaming.

He stumbled, nearly falling, and he glanced down to see that he had tripped over another of the princess' guardians. Sailor Mercury lay where she had fallen, arm outstretched and mouth open in a silent scream. The slightest twinge of sadness briefly distracted him. Out of all of the chattering guardians, she had been the least annoying. Still, there was no time for mourning anyone and he examined the broadsword still embedded between her shoulder blades. It was a sound weapon, whoever had abandoned it had been careless.

With a silent thanks, he took the sword to replace the one he's lost in battle. The weight was reassuring and he tightened his grip before heading down the darkened corridors, breaking into a run once his equilibrium finally returned.

Another explosion rocked the palace and he surged forward, hoping to find its source. What he found was the Great Hall in ruins, rubbled still falling from the ceiling and support pillars wobbling dangerously. Jadeite lay on his back, eyes open and glassy. He didn't have to look twice to know that the youngest tennou would never get up again.

"Son of a whore and a drunkard," Nephrite snarled, brining his sword to bear as the ugliest youma he had ever seen came charging at him.

The first blow nearly knocked the weapon from his fingers as he blocked. The second sent him reeling and a third slammed him into an already precariously position pillar which crashed to the floor.

_Shit, shit, shit_. He rolled away from the debris and scrambled to retrieve his sword and was saved from another strike by a green-tinged energy shield. _Zoisite._

The white tennou was speckled with crimson and his normally sleek ponytail had partially escaped its binding. He was yelling and Nephrite couldn't help but notice the thin stream of blood that trickled down his chin. The only word he could read on Zoisite's lips was Master and he knew Zoisite wasn't bringing good news.

So Kunzite was their only hope to save Endymion. Snarling, Nephrite charged the armored monster and shoulder butted it hard enough to send it stumbling back a few steps. "I haven't found him either. The senshi aren't fairing any better!" he shouted back. Already the youma was advancing again.

Zoisite was fading fast and Nephrite just caught sight of him falling to his knees before the youma sent out a bold of energy. With a grunt, Nephrite absorbed the attack, using what was left of his cape as a partial shield. Hissing in pain, he began to collect his own energy in a crackling sphere of light.

The youma appeared confused and Nephrite took advantage of its momentary lapse in momentum to shape the energy into an impressively plumed bird before letting it go. It flew true, leaving of wake of fire behind it, burning a hole straight through the youma.

The satisfaction of watching the creature writhe in agony was cut short by the taste of copper flooding his mouth. In his weakened state he had over-exerted himself and he sunk to the floor as the dizziness hit. The last thing he saw before his vision went black were the damaged pillars finally giving way and the ceiling beginning to cave in.

--

Even the dim light of the former Dark Kingdom was enough to hurt his eyes. When they eventually began to focus, he could see that the large white blob was actually Zoisite standing over him, looking vaguely concerned. He tried to sit up, but another wave of dizziness forced him to lay back on the small, area rug.

"Did you remember anything useful?" Zoisite asked nonchalantly, as if people fainting on his floor was a perfectly normal thing to happen.

"I'm not sure," Nephrite said. He pondered what he'd seen and then added, "I think I'm going to be sick." To add insult to injury, Zoisite's biggest bird chose to come over to see what was going on and landed on his stomach.

"Shall I fetch the smelling salts?" Nephrite heard as Kunzite's upside-down visage came into view.

"I'm fine. Zoi, get your damn bird off of me." He unceremoniously dumped the winged beast on the floor. "Tell me again why I did this."

"Because we hate you," Kunzite said wryly. "I don't suppose you remember anything about those other senshi?"

"No, but I didn't have a thought," Nephrite said.

"A rare occurrence," Kunzite commented, but a dirty look from Zoisite silenced him.

"If the senshi are supposed to be protecting this world, where were those other two when the princess was blowing everything up?" Nephrite asked, slowly getting to his feet. Kunzite reached out to steady him, but he brushed the gesture off.

"Why don't you asked them yourself?" suggested Zoisite and Nephrite decided to do just that.


	16. Chapter 16

AN – Nephrite refers to something that happened in the uncensored version (look in the profile to find it)

--

Logically Ami knew that it wasn't reasonable to be angry at Nephrite for doing exactly what she told him to do, but it certainly didn't make her any happier about the fact that he had left. When she woke up and he apparently hadn't come back she had to wonder if he had stayed away because he was angry or because she was angry.

Luna didn't seem to have spent the night in the apartment either. Hopefully she hadn't run into trouble, because Ami was in no condition to rescue anyone. Her legs felt like lead and she could barely pull together the coordination to get her breakfast into her mouth.

She hadn't been able to sleep at all after Nephrite had gone. Her mind just couldn't let go of the sensation that something wasn't quite right and she found herself running through a list of complicated questions. Was she just being needlessly of Michiru? She hadn't caught them doing anything that acquaintances weren't inclined to do. Surely he hadn't done worthy of yelling at him.

If he was interested in someone else, was he even aware that she thought they were in a real relationship? Did he think they were just friends with benefits? He hadn't told her he loved her or done any of the typical, boyfriendly, romantic things. _Nephrite? Romantic?_

In the end it had bothered her enough that when she dozed off she had dreamed of Kunzite and the youma again.

She yawned hard enough to make her jaw pop. It was going to be a hellish day with no sleep.

--

On the pretense of running to the campus post office, she went out to see if Nephrite would come to see Michiru. She knew it was a stupid idea and would only cause her more frustration, but she just couldn't help herself.

Sure enough, he was waiting in the usual spot, arms crossed and tapping his foot impatiently. A few other students were staring at him, but she was almost positive that it was because he still refused to wear a coat. It was definitely in her better interest to just walk away but for some reason the little, jealous voice in her head just wouldn't be satisfied. She crept forward, earning herself some curious glances as she slipped behind the brushes lining the small courtyard. She couldn't see through the thick, evergreen foliage but with a little work she managed to open up a peephole. Her face was burning, she couldn't believe she was doing this.

Michiru came hurrying up a minute later, lugging a beat-up looking cello case. Her heavy, winter coat covered most of her but Ami could tell that she was wearing a skirt, stockings and heels. "I can't talk for long," she panted. "I've been asked to perform at some stupid even on campus."

Nephrite seemed a bit disappointed. " We really need to talk, he said curtly. "Will you be around later?

Michiru tapped a finger to her lips, thinking. "I can meet you around supper time. Say... five o'clock."

"Here?" Nephrite asked.

"No, it will be too cold. How about the student union? We can probably find a study room where we can talk privately."

Ami saw red. _Private room? _What did they need a private room for? Part of her wanted to jump out to ask just that, but the through of having to explain why she was in the bushes was enough to stop her.

--

She bought a coffee from the Starbucks stand and hung up her parka on the back of one of the chairs. With an open textbook in front of her, she knew she'd blend in with the crowd of students bustling about the union.

After several minutes of waiting she was beginning to wonder if she'd chosen the wrong entrance to watch. Just when she was getting ready to give up, Nephrite walked through the door, dusting off the light layer of snow on his shoulders. She ducked behind her textbook as he began scanning the room.

When she dared to peek over the cover, she could see that Michiru had entered, this time without her instrument. She made an unmistakable "follow me" gesture and Nephrite began to walk with her down one of the smaller hallways.

Trying to remain inconspicuous, Ami grabbed her belonging and began to slink her way down the hallway after them. They must have already gone into one of the many rooms because Ami couldn't see anyone. Someone taller than she was brushed past her, almost causing her to drop her purse and book. He didn't apologize and Ami glared at his back before starting to walk again to get out of the way.

None of the doorways had doors and she surreptitiously checked each one as she went past. Luckily, she could hear Nephrite's voice coming from the last one, where the boy had entered as well, so she went further down the passageway and stuck just her head past the door frame.

The boy that had bumped her, no, she corrected herself, the girl with a boy's haircut that bumped her, was seating himself next to Michiru on a small sofa. Nephrite, sitting on a table opposite them, didn't seem at all concerned about the third wheel. He merely uncrossed his arms and stood up. "I'm glad to see you decided to show up," he said mildly.

Ami drew her head back around the corner. _What is going on here? _It certainly didn't appear to be what she'd feared. She supposed she could ask but how would she explain her presence in the first place.

Slowly, she crept down the hall. _That was a complete waste of time._ She passed the coffee stand again and debated buying herself a gooey pastry but her attention was attracted to several students rushing to the windows.

"What the fuck is that?" screeched a bleached blonde before stumbling back from the window. A gaggle of girls followed her as she headed for the opposite side of the union but Ami went to see for herself.

_What the fuck indeed._

It was the small figure running away from the youma that really drew Ami's eye. She recognized the frail frame and chin length hair immediately. "Hotaru," she whispered.

Before she realized what she was doing, Ami was out in the snow and dragging the school girl behind the brick wall lining the union steps. Hotaru was terrified, eyes wide and she was shaking uncontrollably. She didn't respond at all when Ami shook her.

The youma's footsteps were coming closer and Ami risked a glance over the top of the wall. The monster was advancing slowly but steadily, taking strange, lurching steps. Ami swallowed heavily as she realized why the youma was limping; large portions of it's raw and red flesh appeared to have rotten off.

Seconds later, the union doors burst open and Nephrite came barreling out the with his two companions in tow. When he saw Ami, he rolled his eyes but immediately rushed over to her. "Do you actually try to get yourself in trouble at every available opportunity?" he growled.

"I'm not in trouble," Ami protested, but she shrieked as the youma climbed onto the top of the wall.

Snarling, Nephrite grabbed both her and Hotaru and yanked them roughly away from the creature. He had no time to do anything else before the two other girls were between the three of them and the youma. "No, don't!" Ami began but she was almost immediately rendered speechless as the two began to glow.

"Neptune Power!"

"Uranus Power!"

"Make Up!"

Although she was aware that her mouth was hanging open, she couldn't do much of anything but stare. _How could I be so stupid? _ She played the events of the past few weeks over in her mind. _How could I not have known?_

A brilliant flash and silence told her that the battle was over as quickly as it began, but she was still too shocked to move. _Why didn't Nephrite tell me?_

When she voiced that thought, Nephrite looked at her like she'd grown another head. "You've barely been in the apartment, when was I supposed to tell you I'd started working with the senshi?"

"You had plenty of time to tell me two nights ago!" she insisted.

"I didn't think that 'other women I have met' was an appropriate topic to bring up while you were sucking my cock," Nephrite said, starting to raise his voice.

She blushed furiously, both at his phrasing and because he was right about that. Hotaru and Neptune were both politely looking away, but Uranus was watching them eagerly. "Never mind," she said quickly. "I think we need to have a long talk." She looked pointedly at Hotaru's small head and Uranus nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Maybe we ought to get her home first," Neptune said, indicating Hotaru.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," the girl said airily before getting to her feet. "You don't have to worry about me telling anyone about this either. No one will believe me."

Hotaru was right. _This is like something out of a manga. Youma, transformations, quests, cat girls..._ "If you're sure you'll be okay," Ami said aloud.

Without another word, Hotaru tottered off, nearly tripping down the stairs. Once she was out of earshot, Nephrite asked, "Where will we talk?"

Uranus turned to Neptune, "The apartment?" she asked simply.

Although there was a pause, Neptune agreed. "We'll get some privacy there."

"We can't all fit in my car," Uranus said, "can you follow us?"

"I have my car, but it's all the way out in the staff parking lot behind the hospital," Ami said.

The two senshi shared a look. "We will meet you by the west entrance. Look for a blue convertible," Uranus instructed.

--

Nephrite was unusually quiet on the way back to the car, and Ami was surprised to see that he wasn't having a fit after she purposely put herself into harm's way. In fact, he looked thoughtful and after several minutes of excruciating silence, he spoke, "What were you doing at the student union?"

She couldn't look at him. "I was getting a coffee?"

"With a physics textbook?" Nephrite asked.

"...yes." But before he could say anything she added, "Look, we'll talk about this when we get home. I need to time to digest all this." She glanced over and his expression was unreadable.. "Here's the car, we'll talk to the senshi and then we can talk later."

--

Michiru and Haruka shared small, one-bedroom apartment on the nicer side of town. Ami recognized some of the street names on the way from her co-worker's addresses. The space was elegantly furnished and Ami couldn't help but compare her neat but shabby belongings.

The taller girl immediately plopped down in the easy chair in the main room while Michiru rolled her eyes. "Have a seat, Ami, Nephrite," she said. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you," Ami replied and Nephrite shook his head as well so Michiru seated herself next to her roommate. "This is quite a place you've got," Ami blurted out for lack of anything better to say.

"Heh. The old biddy running the place didn't want to rent to lesbians," Haruka said. "We had to tell her we were 'cousins'."

_Great, I've been suspecting Nephrite might be cheating on me with a lesbian. Who is a senshi. Way to go Ami._

Nephrite was not interested in small talk. "I wanted to ask you something about the past life," he said brusquely.

"I'm afraid you won't get much information out of us then," Michiru said, shaking her head.

"I barely remember anything," Haruka admitted. "Just bits and pieces."

Nephrite was silent for a minute. "The thing is, none of the Shitennou or other senshi remember you. If the senshi are supposed to protect the princess and planet, where were you when Endymion was killed and Serenity destroyed the moon and earth."

"I-I don't know," Michiru said with a worried look in her eyes. "I don't feel an attachment to any Princess. Maybe that wasn't our mission. If there were nine of us in total, then we may not have all have been given the same orders."

"Nine?" Nephrite asked.

"Well, there's two of us and you said five more awoke before us..." Michiru said.

"So you believe there's a Sailor Saturn and Sailor Pluto as well?" Ami asked.

"Yes and more importantly one could have the third talisman and the other could be the messiah," said Michiru.

"Third talisman? You've found the other two?" Nephrite asked eagerly.

A blush crept up Michiru's delicate features. "It turns out that we had them all along. We just didn't fully understand what we were looking for."

Nephrite covered up his derisive laughter with a fake coughing fit that quickly turned into her real one as he choked. Ami did her best to ignore him. "At least that's two that the miko doesn't have."

When Nephrite recovered, he asked, "Do you think Luna would be able to sense the two other senshi like she could for the first five?"

It was an idea. While Ami pondered it, Nephrite quickly explained who Luna was to their hosts.

"Any help would be great," Michiru said, but Haruka didn't seem impressed. She didn't object though and Ami took the opportunity to leave.

To her surprise, Nephrite rose as well. As soon as the apartment door shut he asked quietly. "How did Neptune know you're name?"

Ami had her face as she pretended to rummage in her bag for something. "I-uh...I've seen her on campus?"

"You have?" Nephrite asked. He looked at her sideways. "Either you're an excellent actress or you had no idea she was a senshi."

"The latter," she said. "How did you know?"

"Her perfume," Nephrite said. "I happened to pass by as she left the gym and smelt it. She must have just reapplied it."

"Oh," Ami said simply.

She unlocked the car door and climbed in. Nephrite squeezed himself in after her but put his hand over hers before she could put the keys in the ignition. When she looked up at him, he said, "You know I can smell your soap just as easily, right?"

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. "How long-?" she began, but he cut her off.

"The whole time. Why have you been following me?" he asked.

She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and swallowed. "I don't know, I guess I was just being stupid."

"You're anything but stupid," Nephrite said.

"No, I was definitely being stupid," Ami said. "I saw you talking to her and she's just so smart and pretty and nice I got jealous."

"So you started spying on me? Don't you trust me?" Nephrite said, sounding hurt.

"It's just that I've never had a boyfriend before," she admitted. "And you don't act like any of the boys in magazines."

Nephrite was just staring at her so she continued to ramble. "You don't do any boyfriend-like stuff or tell me you love me and sometimes I guess I feel like I'm imagining we're boyfriend and girlfriend and you don't see it that way. I had to practically jump you to get you to touch me."

"That's what this is about? I don't act like something out of a magazine?" he asked slowly

"I don't care if you act like that, but you're just so confusing sometimes that I don't know what's going on," she said.

He took a deep breath and then another. "Why didn't you just ask me what I was doing?" he asked shakily and Ami could still hear the hard edge of his voice.

"I don't know," she said meekly. "I just don't know what I'm doing anymore?" She folded her arms across the steering wheel and laid her head down on them. Despite her best efforts, a few tears trickled down her cheeks.

Nephrite was so quiet that she would have thought he teleported away, but she heard him fidget. "I do love you, by the way."

She smiled into her arms. "I know you do. If you didn't , you would never have put up with any of this. I'm sorry I was so jealous."

He reached over to squeeze the back of her neck tentatively. "I guess I could try to do more 'boyfriend-ish' stuff."

"No. I love you the way you are. If I wanted one of the weirdos in the magazines I would have dated one," she said. "I don't exactly do typical girlfriend things either." It took some shifting but she got turned to where she could look him in the eyes. g"Let's just agree that we're both odd and I''ll just have to learn to live with it."


	17. Chapter 17

Mercifully, over a month passed uneventfully for Ami. Nephrite and Luna were still gone regularly at all hours of the day, but there were no great advances or setbacks in the attempts to find the third talisman or the possible other two senshi.

More importantly, the break from their company allowed her time to put all her effort into the hospital. She frequently came home just as exhausted as her two house-mates, despite the fact she was spending more and more time behind the massive piles of files that were accumulating on her desk instead of fighting youma.

She was just putting her signature on yet another summary page when Dr. Lyons waltzed in. The grin on his face made her pause. When he got that mischievous look it usually meant he was going to tease her. He waited expectantly as she closed the file and slowly replaced it with the others.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" he asked the moment the papers were in place.

The question caught her completely off guard. "I don't know. Probably going home and passing out on the couchlike every other day."

His grin grew even wider. "No, you're not. You are going to spend this Valentine's Day out with us other singles."

"I'm not single," Ami protested, but then her mind caught up with the rest of the invitation. "Wait, it's Valentine's Day?"

He feigned horror. "You've got a man, and he hasn't made elaborate and prohibitively expensive plans for the evening?"

"Er...no. We don't celebrate it like that in Japan. That's more of a Christmas thing for us," Ami said, simultaneously thinking of candy shops that might still be open.

"So, how do you celebrate then?" her co-worker asked. He remained eerily cheerful despite her refusal to head out on the town with him.

"Women buy men presents, usually candy," she replied and started putting things together to go home.

"I like your way of celebrating better. Last year lightened my wallet considerably," he said, patting his pocket. He made no move to leave and Ami wondered briefly if he thought she was just making excuses not to go out.

Ami smiled politely, but brushed past him. "Don't get too excited. The guys give us presents in March. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some emergency shopping to do."

--

The pink packaging looked completely out of place in Nephrite's hands and he regarded it carefully. "What is it?" he asked tiredly, turning on the table lamp to get a better look.

"Your Valentine's Day present. Now open it," Ami ordered playfully. By the time she had finished getting herself a glass of water, he had gotten the box open. "I have been assured that these are the finest chocolates on the island," she said as she came over.

"It's Valentine's Day?" he asked, but reached for the candy anyway. He spit the first one out almost immediately. "That's disgusting."

"Disgusting like my cookies?" Ami asked but a quick look at the inside of the lid revealed the problem. "Oh, orange crème. Try this one." She popped the offered one into his mouth before he could refuse.

"Better," he said noncommittally.

Taking one herself and collapsing on the futon next to him, she commented, "I just spent fifty dollars on these, 'better than disgusting' is not going to cut it." Moments later, she spat it out into a tissue. "What flavor was that?" Another look at the lid revealed it to be rosemary.

"That's not something that belongs in candy," Nephrite said before he hesitantly took a nibble of a rather lumpy looking one. It crackled with a delicate crunch. "This one's actually good," he said.

"Molasses Sponge," she told him, but he snatched the guide out of her hands. "No cheating, you need to have a fair shot of picking up one of the nasty ones," he said with a smirk, handing her a long, thin one.

She screwed her eyes shut and took a bite. "Oh good, chocolate covered pretzel." It was hard to choose between the two round ones she was eying, but she eventually decided on the one covered in dark chocolate and handed it to him.

It exploded as soon as he bit into it, sending some sort of thick syrup cascading down his front. "Rum, I think," he said around the rest.

She ran a single finger over his chin and sucked it clean. For a chocolate, it was quite boozy but she endured the taste as she watched her boyfriend stare longingly at her finger.

The next one turned out to be just as messy as the last, and she had to immediately draw the entire thing into her mouth to keep it from coating her shirt. "It tastes like medicine," she coughed and Nephrite leaned over to lick her bottom lip.

"Kirsch," he murmured before pressing his lips to hers.

His weight pushed her onto her back, causing the futon mattress to rebound and knock the chocolate box over. "Son of a bitch," Nephrite muttered, pushing himself back up to rescue them.

Ami took the opportunity to escape to the kitchen to examine the contents of her refrigerator. The light barely illuminated the dark kitchen and she tried to shield her efforts with the open door. _Barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup... here we are, chocolate syrup._

Although he never saw it coming, Nephrite barely reacted when the cold syrup hit the back of his neck. However, his back arched as she proceeded to delicately lick it off his skin. He swallowed heavily several times. "I take it you've come up with some plans for the evening?"

"Maybe," she replied demurely.

With a smile, she began edging her fingers under the hem of his shirt. Unfortunately, the phone began to ring, startling them both. She briefly contemplated letting it ring out, but she relented on the sixth ring and picked up.

"Hello?" There was silence on the other end. "Hello?" she asked again. It sounded like there might be a cat meowing in the distance, but there was no human voice on the line. The ID tag read Tomoe, but she couldn't place the name.

"Who was that?" Nephrite asked.

"No one. I think someone's cat might have knocked the phone off the hook," she replied with a shrug. She reached for him, but her cell phone began to ring and she rolled her eyes before reaching over the armrest to grope for her purse.

"Moshi, moshi," she said mechanically.

"Ami, are you all right?" Rei asked, ignoring the greeting.

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered and looked at Nephrite. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I -" Rei stopped in mid sentence and took a deep breath. "I had a horrible vision."

The skin on the back of her neck began to prickle. "What did you see?" Instantly, Nephrite was sitting up and leaning over her shoulder.

"I'm not sure. It was dark, but I heard someone talking about the coming silence and a messiah." Rei sighed. "And then a girl started screaming and the vision ended."

"A messiah," Ami repeated.

"Do you know what this means?" Rei asked urgently.

"Neptune and Uranus are looking for three talismans to try to stop the Silence. They need them to help stop the Messiah of Silence," Ami said. "This could mean that the Silence is closer."

Rei grunted. "I don't know. And what does this Silence mean?"

"No one knows. Neptune also thinks that there may be a Sailor Saturn and a Sailor Pluto involved in all this as well," Ami added quietly.

"More senshi?" Rei sounded tired suddenly. "Why would they think that?"

"Neptune and Uranus both had a talisman," Ami said.

"And Saturn or Pluto may have the other," Rei finished. "It does make sense."

"More than that," Ami warned her. "They fear that whoever doesn't hold a talisman may be the Messiah of Silence or the messiah meant to stop her."

"I don't want to fight another senshi again," Rei whispered. No doubt she was remembering the final battle with Serenity.

"I think that in the mean time we'd better keep a closer eye on Usagi and the baby. That miko doesn't seem to have any qualms about targeting us and if things are getting closer to the Silence she may attack more often." _With only a few weeks to go, Usagi can't defend herself._ Would the Shitennou be enough to stop her?

When she clicked the phone shut, she had no desire to continue where she and Nephrite had left off. The syrup bottle still lay on the table where she'd left it and she stared blankly at it, wishing she'd just let the answering machine pick up. Both phone calls left her with a sense of growing unease. What if something had happened and they just didn't know about it?

"Ami-chan?" Nephrite said. He turned to face her and the worried look in his eyes immediately made her skin go cold. "Do you think that the Princess' baby has anything to do with this messiah?"

The thought made her stomach lurch. "No-no. Of course not," she said quickly.

"It's just that the baby will be born in a few weeks and if Mars is having visions... I don't know. It just seems like a bad omen to me," Nephrite said.

"But she's just a baby. How much harm could a baby do?" Ami asked. The more she thought about it, the less she wanted to.

"I wouldn't have thought a silly little girl could have blown up the world, either. Her mother destroyed the planet, twice. What if the Silence will be like that?" Nephrite asked.

"No. I'm sorry. I can't even think about this," Ami said with a violent shake of her head. A sudden chill made her shudder. _Fate can't be that cruel to Usagi-chan._


	18. Chapter 18

AN - Car accidents suck. Luckily Yakusoku and I are fine for the most part.

---

"Absolutely not," Nephrite said. He crossed his arms and leaned back to get a better look at what she was holding up. "Not even for you."

The shirt went back on the rack next to its nearly identical brethren. Ami had been trying all morning to get him to buy something besides black t-shirts and jeans, but he would have none of it. Even now she could tell that he was getting bored and gearing up to make scene.

It seemed they'd been to every store in the entire mall, from the teen-goth shop to the overpriced, yuppie-haven, and according to Nephrite, every single article of clothing should immediately be burnt as a fashion travesty. Well, except for the fishnet and garters number he had spotted, but she was under the impression that he wanted that for her and not himself.

He was openly sneering at a group of giggling pre-teens, and she knew that she'd have to find something to catch his attention or things would get ugly, quickly. Without looking, she grabbed the nearest hanger off the rack. "What about this?"

"I think that would look better on you," Nephrite said with a smirk.

She looked down to see that she was clutching a strappy, pink...thing. "What is it?" she asked, looking for visible arm or neck holes, but Nephrite's attention was no longer on her.

She recognized the change in his posture immediately. "Run," he growled, pushing her towards the store entrance leading to the interior of the mall. When she hesitated, he grabbed her arm and pulled her out with him.

A few people glared angrily as he pushed his way through, but he paid them no attention as he rushed towards the food court and through the lunch crowd. Even though he was only walking, she could hardly keep up without breaking into a run.

When they burst out of the glass doors and into the bright sunshine, she risked a glance behind them, but she saw no sign of a youma or panicking civilians. "What are we running from?" she asked breathlessly.

"The miko," he said shortly. He let go of her, allowing her to struggle to get into the coat she had been carrying.

She turned around again and saw that the dark miko was coming towards them, rapidly closing the distance between them although she appeared to be strolling casually. Her black cat was trailing behind her at a distance, but it seemed more interested in a plastic bag blowing in the breeze than its mistress.

"Where's the car?" she asked. Unfortunately, they'd come out a different door than they had gone in. Finding her little Honda in a sea of SUVs before the miko attacked was unlikely. Down the aisle, Ami spotted a very tall, startled young woman with long, black hair. Ami yelled at her to run as they dashed past. Nephrite was leading her deeper into the rows of cars, making lefts and rights at seemingly random intervals.

Finally, he dragged her behind an over-sized, black minivan. "Hide here," he ordered, peering through the tinted windows at the miko. "And don't come out unless she finds you." With that, he darted back out on the opposite side, changing forms as he went, leaving her to huddle behind one of the wheel wells.

Her first thought was to refuse to hide like a scared rabbit, but logic told her that Nephrite really was right. She needed to stay out of battle. That didn't mean she had to like it though, and she shoved her hands angrily in her pockets to distract herself. She barely resisted the urge to peek at the battle even after several explosions. She was so distracted that she didn't see the cat until it started yowling next to her.

With a startled squeak, she jumped up and instinctively kicked at it. While she wasn't normally afraid of cats like Luna, this one caused an unreasonable sense of dread to fill her. "Go. Away." she screamed and threw her purse at its head.

The cat gracefully dodged to the side. For a moment Ami would have sworn she had seen two tails, but the beast was moving too quickly for her to get a good look at it. It rushed at her legs causing her to stumble back until she hit the cold metal of the car door. She lashed out again with her foot, but she was much too slow to connect.

_Don't panic, it's just a stupid cat, _she told herself. However, the blood was already pounding in her ears when it came at her again. "Nephrite!" she screamed as its tiny claws caught in fabric of her pants

Where Nephrite went the miko followed, bringing the fight to Ami. Her face was hot when Nephrite ripped the howling cat off, taking a large patch of her pants with it, and threw it as hard as he could at the approaching miko.

The shrine maiden deftly caught her companion, handling it gently even though she was in battle, giving Nephrite time to place himself between and the growling animal. It hissed and hid behind its mistress' black hakama.

"Did the mean kitty cat scare you?" the miko asked in a sing-song voice. She drew an ofuda from her sleeve pocket. "I'll give you something to be afraid of."

Moments later, she was crying out in pain as Nephrite surged forward to tackle her to the ground. Although she scrambled away before she could be pinned, the look on her face was one of pure outrage.

Nephrite, on the other hand, looked like he was enjoying the exercise after having to behave all morning. "Save your breath," he said with a feral grin before launching himself at her again.

This time, the miko saw it coming and dove to one side, chanting quietly under her breath. Nephrite noticed at the same time Ami did and brought his cape up to shield his face. But instead of the expected energy bolt or explosion, there was dead silence. Nephrite peeked out from behind the fabric.

Something rough and cold wrapped around Ami's torso, pinning her arms to her sides so tightly that it hurt. When she tried to pull away, she found her feet being entangled just as quickly. "Let me go," she demanded, realizing how powerless she sounded even as she said it.

When Nephrite whipped around to look at her, the miko struck him from behind, this time with the anticipated energy bolt. He hit the pavement hard but sent a retaliatory bolt back over his shoulder moments later, forcing the miko to find cover behind a nearby minivan. Instead of going after her, he chose to take on the youma holding Ami captive.

She could see that he was hesitating. With the tentacles holding her directly in front of the youma, she was effectively acting as a human shield. "Don't worry about me," she gasped out, still struggling against the restraining limbs. "Go after the miko." Even at a distance, she could tell he didn't like the idea of leaving her in the creature's clutches. "Hurry!"

The swish of hakama alerted them to the miko's reappearance. When she gestured, the youma's grip tightened painfully, and Ami could feel her ribs groan under the pressure. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming and distracting Nephrite from his mission.

The two combatants were circling warily, neither quite willing to make the first move. While they were occupied, the cat was calmly stalking its way towards Ami, apparently not bothered by the hot blacktop in the slightest. The winter sunlight glinted brightly off a gold hoop dangling from its left ear, and Ami wondered dumbly why she hadn't noticed the earring before.

Upon its arrival at her feet, the cat stood up on its hind legs, gazing at her intently. She couldn't meet its yellow eyes. _What is wrong with me? It must be the lack of oxygen._

Another flash caught her eyes, and she looked up in time to see the miko stumble back from a punch to the face. Ami could just see the trickle of blood from her nose, even with her darkening vision. A meow made her look down again. Before she could even see the beast, her eyes filled with stinging salt water, and she had to squeeze them shut. Then she was falling forward, free of the fleshy bonds that fell to the ground beside her. With an angry hiss, the cat ran to hide under the nearest car.

Her legs were weak, and she dropped her knees, drawing in a shuddering breath. A small sigh of whispered thanks later, she felt her ribs, finding there were no sharp pains. _At least they aren't cracked._

She turned around slowly to see Neptune and Uranus doing battle with what looked like a mound of tentacles with a gaping maw at its center. It was rebuffing every attack that was sent its way and repeatedly grasped one senshi or the other by the ankle, sending them crashing to the ground. Behind her, it sounded liked Nephrite was grappling with the shrine maiden, judging by the shrieks of outrage.

Once her legs could support her again, Ami began heading for Nephrite, but he quickly motioned her back once he saw her. The shrine maiden saw her as well, and with a final sneer, she gave Nephrite a shove to the sternum and disappeared, leaving the tentacled youma behind.

"This looks like something out of a hentai anime," Nephrite said as he rushed past her and towards the senshi. He was quite right. Ami watched a thick tentacle wrap around Neptune's thighs while two more trapped Uranus' wrists. Neither could break free, and more tentacles began to close in and tighten the creature's grip.

Nephrite's drawn sword did not frighten the youma, but it did an excellent job of pruning some of its extra limbs. However, whenever one fleshy appendage hit the ground to sizzle and dissolve into nothing, another grew to take its place.

Ami watched in horror as the tentacles wrapped around the two captive senshi's throats. Uranus's face was a brilliant scarlet as her lips formed Michiru's name. _I've got to do something._

"Fire," she said out loud. Nephrite didn't appear to have heard her, so she shouted it across the pavement. "Fire, you need to use fire. Cauterize it!"

Although he seemed confused, Nephrite didn't question her. After taking several steps away from the creature's limbs, he began to draw energy into a crackling ball. Seconds later, Ami was squinting at the bright light and trying to watch the phoenix-shaped projectile as it flew towards the youma.

The stench of burnt youma was sickening, but at least it carried no traces of the unmistakable scent of charred, human flesh. Writhing in agony, the creature flailed feebly, but even the two weakened senshi were able to avoid its death spasms. Uranus drew a bejeweled, short sword from out of thin air and thrust into what appeared to be the center of the beast, twisting it vindictively until the youma disintegrated.

"Why were you here?" Uranus demanded of Ami when she was finished. "You nearly got us killed."

"Nearly got you killed?" Nephrite answered for her. "We were doing fine until you showed up."

"Your useless lump of a girlfriend was asphyxiating. That's hardly fine," retorted Uranus.

"She's not useless," Nephrite snapped.

"Oh, really? She looked pretty damned useless to me," Uranus said, taking a step towards Nephrite.

Instead of backing up, Nephrite got right in her face. "So did you! I was the one who had to take out the miko and the youma."

Uranus flushed. "That's because we were trying to protect her." She pointed one long finger at Ami. "You obviously couldn't."

Nephrite drew himself up to his full height. Ami shot a pleading look at Neptune as she went to retrieve her purse. The other senshi took the hint and grasped Uranus' shoulder, hard. "What Uranus means is that maybe you need to watch Ami more closely when she's on the battlefield, right?" she said before Nephrite could speak.

"No, that's- ow!" Uranus glared at Neptune and rubbed her side where she'd been elbowed.

Meanwhile, Ami tucked her arm around Nephrite's. "Thanks for the help," she said, tugging on Nephrite's arm. He didn't respond, so she pulled harder until he looked at her. "We've got to go," she said through clenched teeth. "You two are attracting too much attention."

When he teleported, she expected to be back at the apartment, but instead she found herself next to her car. Nephrite was back as a human, but his eyes were a cold blue as he stared off into the distance. Her first thought was to ask him what the spat with Uranus was about, but she knew it would be counter productive. She knew exactly what Uranus had said to anger him and bringing it back up would only let him dwell on it.

She winced as she slid into the driver's seat and snapped her seatbelt on. Nephrite was so lost in thought that it took him a few minutes to even realize that she had opened the car. Even with the scowl, he looked so pathetic cramming himself in next to her that she had to occupy herself with digging out her sunglass before she started laughing at him.

"Where did you learn that new technique?" she asked without looking up.

"I remembered it," he said shortly. She glanced over and did smirk at how much he looked like a disgruntled teenager with his arms crossed and shoulders hunched over.

She reached over to stroke the soft hair at the nape of his neck. "Well, it certainly worked," she said, turning his face to hers. He was purposely avoiding her gaze. "No matter what those two think, I had faith in you."

"Well, I'm glad someone does. I just want to forget this ever happened," he muttered.

Clearly he was going to start really moping if she didn't get his mind onto another subject. She took the obvious route and pressed a kiss to his lips. After a moment of apparent indecision over whether losing the chance for some serious brooding was worth it, he began to respond.

When she broke away, a grumpy old woman was giving them a disapproving glare as she slowly hobbled back to her car. With a giggle, she started the car as Nephrite grumbled something about nosy, old prudes. Moments later, she jumped when she felt Nephrite's warm hand on her leg and was glad the car was still in park.

"What are you up to?" she asked nervously as his fingers trailed up her inner thigh.

He leaned over the emergency brake and kissed her cheek. "Absolutely nothing," he said, nuzzling the side of her neck.

She tried to squirm away, but the seatbelt prevented her. Luckily, there was no one nearby as he began to play with the snaps on her jeans. "'Absolutely nothing' is going to get mall security called on us."

"I doubt it. Everyone is on the other side of the mall wondering what the hell just happened." He trailed his hand up her stomach but stopped when she winced. Before she could protest, he tugged her shirt up. The skin was red and raw where the youma had squeezed her and several purple bruises were forming under her breasts. "When were you going to tell me about his?"

A loud honk prevented her from answering, and Nephrite leaned over to give the old woman a gesture and phrase he must have picked up on the university campus. Ami pulled her shirt down to cover up the tender flesh. "I didn't expect you to start molesting me in the parking lot," she replied.

"I can't help it if I think you're sexy," Nephrite said petulantly.

It almost made her forget the ache in her chest. No one had ever referred to her as sexy before. She certainly didn't think of herself as sexy. _Am I sexy? _A slight smile lifted the corner of her lips, and she watched Nephrite out of the corner of her eye as he readjusted his own jeans. "I hope Luna has plans for the afternoon," was all she said as she slipped on her sunglasses and sped out of the parking lot.


	19. Chapter 19

She was staring and she knew it, but there was something familiar about the barista that Ami couldn't put her finger on. The girl had been working in the student union for months, but for some reason Ami was bothered by a sudden sense of déjà vu. Even after she'd received her tea and bagel, she continued to watch her from one of the nearby tables.

The girl was very tall and had a greenish cast to her braided black hair styled for convenience. Her name tag read Setsuna, but it didn't sound familiar. There was nothing particularly unusual about her, either in her looks or her behavior. - _Why is she on my mind suddenly?_

Glancing up, Ami spotted the clock and gathered up her trash. It was eleven AM. Break time was over, and she had a lot of work to do.

--

"Ami!" Dr. Lyons announced his arrival by opening the door so hard that it crashed into the wall. He looked so happy that she immediately began to dread whatever he was going to say next. "You're just the person I was looking for."

_Who else would you look for in my office? _ "What is it?" she asked. "You look disturbingly cheerful."

"Cheerful? I'm ecstatic!" he said, taking a seat on her desk. "But I need a favor."

She winced inwardly, but kept a straight face. "What kind of favor?"

"I have a date tonight," he said.

"And you need me to cover for you," she finished.

"No, actually, I want you to come with me," he said with a winning smile.

"You want me to be a third wheel?" she asked.

"Not exactly. You said you had a boyfriend, right?"

Ami nodded.

"Well, this girl is pretty young, and I thought it would be less intimidating if we went on a double date with someone closer to her age."

"Intimidating?" Ami asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe intimidating isn't the right word. It's just that I'm twenty-nine and she's twenty-one, and it seems a little..."

"Skeevy?" Ami offered with a slight smirk.

"That's not the word I was going to use, but yeah," he said lamely. "You'll help me out, won't you?"

"Who is this girl, anyway?" she asked.

"Her name is Setsuna. She works down at the coffee shop on campus." Her surprise must have shown on her face, because he asked, "Do you know her?"

"Only in the sense that I've been in there almost every day since Christmas," Ami said with a shrug.

"So have I, but for a different reason," he said. "But you'll come out with us, right?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I have a lot of work to finish, and my boyfriend isn't all that social. He doesn't even speak English."

"That's okay. Setsuna speaks Japanese," Dr. Lyons said. He was watching her intently, and she felt her resolve weakening.

"I'd have to go home and ask Nephrite. He won't answer the phone, and he's probably exhausted after working all day..."

Her research partner was still grinning like an idiot. "Hey, you don't have to stay the whole time. In fact, if all goes well, I may be encouraging you to leave early. Please?"

--

"Please?" she asked again.

Nephrite planted his feet like he expected her to physically drag him out. "No way."

"Come on. Dr. Lyons always helps me out. I need to do something to repay him," she begged.

"No. I don't want to go out with two people I've never met before," he said. "I don't have anything to wear anyway."

She had to bite her tongue to keep from reminding him whose fault that was. "You can borrow something from Kunzite. You're not that much bigger than he is."

"I don't want to owe him anything," Nephrite grumbled.

"Look," she said, switching to another tactic. "Luna said she'd be gone until tomorrow. Lyons doesn't want us to stay the whole time. We can leave early, and with Luna out, we'll have a few hours of 'alone time' when we get back."

"We'll have more 'alone time' if we don't go at all," Nephrite said.

"You'll have plenty of 'alone time' if you don't go, but it won't be the kind you like," she retorted. "Now would you please go borrow a shirt?"

Although he pouted, he did as she asked. With a few adjustments, he was semi-presentable in a button down shirt that she could not convince him to tuck in. Hoping that she wasn't going to be overdressed, she threw on a random dress from her closet and ushered a grumpy Nephrite out the door.

--

Dr. Lyons greeted them outside the restaurant. "Ami, I'm so glad you could make it." His smile wavered as Nephrite eyed him up and down warily, but he retained his good humor. "I'm sorry, I know you told me your boyfriend's name, but I can't remember it."

"Nephrite," Ami said. "Nephrite, this is Dr. Lyons." Nephrite gave the smallest of nods in her co-worker's general direction.

"Please, call me John. 'Dr. Lyons' makes me feel old." She nodded and repeated the information for Nephrite.

They stood quietly under the tacky, red awning covering the entrance, shivering, until Dr. Lyons couldn't take the silence anymore. "So, Nephrite's an unusual name. It's a type of jade, isn't it?"

Nephrite did his best to pretend he hadn't heard his name being spoken, but Ami dutifully translated for him. "It is," he said through Ami. "My parents had interesting ideas about naming children."

"I don't know. Americans have gotten really bizarre about their children lately. The other day I had a Fuchsia among my patients, closely followed by Miss Candy Cane," Dr Lyons said. "Naming your child Candy Cane should be considered child abuse."

Before Ami could respond, a dark green Jetta pulled into the parking lot and Setsuna got out of the driver's seat. She was wearing a short dress that showed off her long legs while still being modest and there was a grace in the way that she moved that reminded Ami of Michiru.

She recognized Ami almost immediately. "I didn't expect to see you off campus," she said with a smile when Dr. Lyons made the introductions. Her eyes lingered on Nephrite, but it wasn't the kind of look that raised Ami's hackles. It was more like she recognized him, but couldn't remember from where.

_Maybe she saw him with Michiru or Haruka,_ Ami thought and then promptly forgot the matter entirely as they entered the restaurant.

Once seated in their booth, Lyons continued to happily babble about work, life, and coffee to his date while Ami searched the menu for something she thought Nephrite would eat without making a scene. Nephrite was puzzling over the menu as well, but Ami wasn't sure whether or not he was just doing it for effect. Finally, he leaned over and pointed to the beef tenderloin on her menu. "I want that."

She couldn't think of a polite way to ask if he was actually reading the menu or just randomly pointing, so she just nodded. It was a simple dish without all the fussy sauces and vegetables that he'd pick at or play with. Maybe he really was picking up English that quickly, but where could he have been learning to read that well? She had the sudden mental image of him sitting on the floor watching Sesame Street intently, and she smiled at the silliness of the idea.

"What's so funny?" Setsuna asked from across the table. She had already finished with her menu and was neatly placing her napkin in her lap.

"Nothing," Ami replied. "What are you ordering?" she asked to make small talk while she kicked Nephrite's shin to remind him of his own napkin.

"Just a salad, I think. I need to keep my svelte figure," she said. When Dr. Lyons turned to her, she smiled flirtatiously. "Just kidding."

"Not having to worry about my girlish figure, I'm going to gorge myself on the Pot-Roasted Lamb. I highly recommend it, even if you don't normally like lamb," Dr. Lyons said. "We bachelors don't get good food often," he added.

"Neither does everyone with a woman in their life," Nephrite said quietly after Ami translated, making her blush furiously. Setsuna had politely put her hand to her mouth, but it was clear from her eyes that she was laughing. Dr. Lyons looked a little confused as to whether he was being mocked or not, but he was too good-natured to care either way.

"I'm sure your cooking is fine," Setsuna said in English. "I don't make meals so much as I make reservations."

"A lady after my own heart," Dr. Lyons said with a sappy smile, thankfully too absorbed in his date to see Nephrite rolling his eyes.

He leaned over to whisper in Ami's ear. "Can we go yet?"

"After we eat," she whispered back and squeezed his hand under the table, but he was already sliding off the seat. In response to her quizzical look, he motioned towards the men's room.

"So, how did you two meet?" Setsuna asked as he left. She watched Ami with a gaze so intent it made her uncomfortable.

"Er... it's kind of a long story, actually. My friend is married to one of his friends. We actually didn't like each other much at first, but circumstances kept throwing us together until we gave in," she said, trying to keep it as vague as possible.

"I can't see you not getting along with anyone," Dr. Lyons said. "Ami has to be the nicest person I've ever met."

Again, she blushed. "I'm not that nice, I just grew up being taught that I should be accommodating," she said. Luckily, she was saved from any further conversation by Nephrite returning.

He didn't bother to sit down. "We've got a problem," he whispered urgently to her.

"What kind of problem?" she whispered back. She cast a nervous glance at the two across the table, but they appeared to be preoccupied with one another.

"The kind we had at the mall," he answered, keeping Setsuna in mind as he answered. "I don't know if we're being targeted or if she's just nearby."

Silently, she motioned for him to sit down. I wouldn't do any good to alarm anyone if they had neither a plan nor any real knowledge of what was going on.

There were plenty of exits and they had the car. It was quite possible that they could put a good deal of distance between the miko and themselves. On the other hand, what if the miko took the restaurant patrons hostage, or worse?

She wrung the hem of her dress violently, trying to force the rest of her body to appear normal. Nephrite touched her arm, making her jump. His expression was more anxious than she would have liked, but he didn't say anything. If only they had a way to contact Uranus and Neptune.

Dr. Lyons and Setsuna still didn't seem to have picked up on her nervousness. "John?" It felt extremely odd to use his given name. "Do you mind if we step outside for a minute?"

"Not at all," he said, and she was glad he was too engrossed in Setsuna to care what was going on.

Nephrite automatically followed her outside into the darkened parking lot. The winter sun had set quickly, and she shivered in the rapidly chilling air. "Do you have Michiru's telephone number?"

Nephrite shook his head. "I wrote it down at some point, but I don't carry it around with me."

With that slim hope crushed, Ami set her mind to coming up with a viable plan. She leaned against the brick wall, rapidly throwing out every idea she came up with. After a few minutes, she turned to Nephrite. "You'd better go inside, or they're going to start thinking something is wrong."

His reluctance to leave her was endearing but hardly productive. After several promises to come inside after another minute or two, he dragged himself inside, leaving her standing just outside the entrance. She was going to berate him when the door chimes indicated that someone had opened the door again, but it was only Setsuna.

The other girl looked at her in surprise. "Aren't you cold? I wouldn't have come out if I hadn't left my cell phone in the car." She held up her tiny, clutch purse. "Not that I could have wedged it in here anyway."

Ami tried to come up with a new plan, but her thoughts were broken minutes later when Setsuna came back. The other girl towered over Ami when she stood next to her. "Are you going back inside?" she asked.

"I guess so," Ami replied. "Hopefully the boys ordered for us. Nephrite can at least point to what he wants on the menu."

Setsuna stopped for a second in the doorway at the mention of Nephrite. "Does he live in America full-time or is he just visiting?"

"More like visiting full-time," Ami said as they crossed the floor to their table. "Oh, good. The waitress is still taking the order," she said quickly to avoid having to elaborate.

When Nephrite stood up to let her in, he leaned in to quietly ask her what they were going to do. "I don't know," she whispered back. "We can't really do anything yet if you don't know where the miko is or where she's going."

The next few minutes of waiting for something to happen were tortuous, and it became harder and harder to make polite conversation. Nephrite no longer even pretended like he was paying attention to the other half of the party, instead preferring to alternately watch every possible entrance, exit, and window.

After several pokes to her side, Ami followed his gaze to two familiar women being seated beneath one of the pseudo-Tiffany lamps across the floor. "That can't be a coincidence," she murmured as Haruka pulled the seat out for Michiru.

"You can relax a little at least," she whispered back.

"What are you two love-birds whispering about over there?" Dr. Lyons asked playfully.

With a slight smile, Ami replied, "I assure you, you don't want to know."

Dr. Lyons winked at her and looked like he was going to comment. Unfortunately, he was interrupted as the front doors were blasted completely off their hinges, and the miko came stalking through. There was shocked silence for a few seconds, and Michiru, Haruka, Setsuna, Nephrite, and Ami stood up in unison. The next moment brought mass confusion as the restaurant patrons rushed every which way, trying to escape, and completely obstructing their view of the oncoming miko.

She reappeared seconds later, striding towards Ami's table. Before Ami could tell Dr. Lyons to take Setsuna and run, Setsuna jumped onto the cushioned seat and easily vaulted over the table. Both Ami and Dr. Lyons stood slack jawed as the girl's form shimmered and her dress became the familiar sailor senshi fuku. In her hands was an enormous key-shaped staff with a glittering, red jewel set in the top.

"W-what the hell?" Dr. Lyon's stammered, blinking repeatedly.

Uranus and Neptune joined Setsuna, blocking the path of the miko. "What do we do about those three?" Uranus asked.

"Worry about yourself," Nephrite snarled at her back, shifting to his red uniform. "Keep him out of trouble," he added to Ami.

"What are they saying?" Dr. Lyons asked as Ami dragged him over the low privacy wall and behind another row of booths. His eyes were wide, but she couldn't tell whether it was from fear or amazement.

"They want me to keep you out of the way," Ami said, trying to keep an eye in every direction at once, lest they get attacked by another youma. She winced as a bolt of energy sent Neptune crashing into one of the decorative pillars.

"Out of the way of what?" he asked, voice rising. "I don't even know what's going on!"

"The short version is the girl in wide pants is a bad guy. The girls in short skirts and Nephrite are good guys. They fight; we stay out of the way," she replied.

"This is a common occurrence for you?"

She shrugged slightly. "I used to be one of the good guys."

"What about the cat?" he asked nervously.

_Cat?_ The miko's double-tailed, black cat was slinking underneath the tables and chairs, coming around the back of the fighting guardians. She grabbed an abandoned steak knife off one of the tables. "We don't like that cat," she growled and starting creeping forward shakily. _Here kitty, kitty._

The cat whipped its head around as soon as she moved, eyes shining. Ami's breath caught and she froze, almost entranced by its stare. Although she willed her arm to bring the blade up as it crept closer, her body wasn't responding.

"Pluto Dead Scream!"

The entire restaurant shook so badly that Ami was afraid that the ceiling would collapse, but when the dust settled, she was free to move again, the miko was fleeing, and her pet was racing to catch up. Nephrite leapt over the privacy barrier. "Are you okay?"

"Well, he's probably going to need a lot of therapy, but otherwise, we're fine," Ami said, shaking the dust and bits of ceiling tile from her hair. "There was no youma?"

Pluto walked up behind Nephrite. "No, I don't think the miko expected all three of us to be here."

Ami looked slowly from senshi to senshi. "Neither did I."

Pluto nodded. "We'll explain later. Right now I think it's best if I took John home before the police show up." She grabbed his arm and half-dragged him to his feet.

"We'll come around to your apartment later tonight," Neptune said as she and Uranus started to leave.

"Wait, how do you know where I live?" Ami asked, but neither senshi answered. She turned to Pluto, but she just smiled and turned to go as well.

Nephrite just shrugged. "Don't ask me, I never know what's going on."

With a sigh, she surveyed the damage to the restaurant. "This is not how I wanted to spend the evening."

"Tell me about it. There goes 'alone time'," Nephrite said, taking her hand and leading her towards the gaping hole that was once the entrance.


	20. Chapter 20

Luna paused mid-chew when Ami and Nephrite walked into the apartment. "What are you two doing home?" she mumbled around a mouthful of Lucky Charms.

"Preparing for company," Ami replied. "I thought you were going to be out all night."

Luna shrugged. "I lost track of the miko."

"We didn't," Nephrite said grumpily. "It seems like she was targeting us again."

"She could have been after Setsuna," Ami pointed out. "Sailor Pluto," she added when Luna looked confused.

"Sailor Pluto," Luna repeated slowly. "So that leaves only one." She tapped her spoon on her lips. "Is she the company you're expecting?"

Nephrite snorted. "And Sailor Prissy and Sailor Bitchy."

"Nephrite," Ami hissed, though didn't chastise him further. At the moment she wasn't exactly pleased with the other senshi either. Were they keeping secrets from her?

She sat next to where Nephrite had plopped himself down on the futon. "I don't know what on earth we're going to tell Dr. Lyons."

"That's Pluto's problem. I say we just convince him he had one too many cocktails," Nephrite said. "Although that doesn't explain why the restaurant was destroyed."

"Wait, what happened?" Luna asked.

Ami quickly recounted the evening for her, although Nephrite's color commentary slowed the process considerably. "What really bothers me is that Neptune and Uranus weren't surprised to see Pluto at all."

"They must have known about her and kept it from us," Nephrite grumbled.

"Could they have found out since the last time you saw them?" Luna asked, getting up. She turned back into a plushie and jumped onto the armrest next to Nephrite.

Before Ami could answer, there was a loud knock on the door. When she opened the door, all three senshi were there, looking mostly as tired as she felt.

"Ah, so we finally meet," Luna said, hopping down to greet them.

Nephrite refused to even look at them, deciding instead to stand up and walk over to the fish-tank. With an inward sigh, Ami put some water on to boil and listened as Luna started a conversation.

"You're the senshi's advisor?" Michiru asked curiously.

"One of them," Luna corrected her. "Artemis advises Sailor Venus."

"Sometimes I wish we had one as well," Michiru said quietly.

"What do we need an advisor for?" Haruka asked with a shrug.

Nephrite's head whipped around, but Setsuna spoke up first. "It's always nice to have someone to run your ideas by." Her voice was low and soothing, and Nephrite let his comment turn to silence.

"It's just that I'd like to see if someone could interpret my dream." Michiru put her delicate fingers to her temples. "Maybe I would stop having it if I knew what it was supposed to be."

Luna's ears perked up. "What kind of dream?"

"It's... all I see is ruin. Tokyo is completely destroyed. There's a girl standing on top of a pile of rubble, but I can't see her clearly through the smoke and the dust. All I can make out is her figure and her glaive," Michiru said slowly. Haruka put her arm around her lover as her voice grew shaky.

"Glaive?" Setsuna asked. "You never mentioned the glaive before."

"I hadn't seen it before," Michiru admitted. "Every time I try to sleep, it gets a little clearer."

Nodding vaguely at the explanation, Setsuna turned away towards the kitchen, her eyes focusing on something distant. "The Silence Glaive," she whispered under her breath, so quietly that Ami wasn't sure she'd heard correctly.

"Would anyone like tea?" Ami asked, breaking the awkward silence that followed Michiru's words. She put her teapot on a tray with some mugs and cookies and carried it carefully it into her living room.

Ever ready to have an excuse to eat sugar, Luna turned back into her humanoid form, startling the three senshi. "Sorry," she said cheekily, helping herself to a mug and most of the sugar bowl.

Setsuna watched her with a slightly melancholy expression that only Ami noticed. She pressed a mug into the older girl's hand and asked quietly if she was alright.

"Yes. Luna just reminds me of one of my friends," Setsuna said.

Luna was busy shoveling cookies between sips. "She reminds me of one of my friends, too. Usagi. Sailor Moon, really."

Setsuna's grip on the mug tightened. "Why aren't the other senshi here, helping you?"

"Usagi's pregnant and -," Ami started.

"Pregnant?" Setsuna asked loudly, causing everyone to turn and stare. She blushed slightly. "What awful timing."

"I don't think she was planning on it," Nephrite said.

"What? Having some crazy miko running around?" Haruka asked.

"That too," he replied mildly.

Haruka cocked an eyebrow. "Well that explains where Sailor Moon is. What about the others?"

"Minako, I mean, Sailor Venus is an Idol. She's traveling with her work, but she and Artemis were here in New York earlier." Ami said. "Sailor Jupiter is getting married and trying to keep Usa-Sailor Moon out of trouble.

"Sailor Mars was here when the miko's attacks first started happening. Actually, she was there the first time we saw you, but she had to go back to her shrine." Talking about Rei made her remember something else. "Mars was having visions of someone prophesying silence."

"Does she know what the visions mean?" Haruka asked. Both she and Michiru were looking at Ami hopefully.

"No, when she called me to tell me, she wanted to know if I was alright because she didn't know why she had it," Ami said.

"We did get that weird phone call right before she called," Nephrite said darkly.

"Weird phone call?" Setsuna prompted.

"There was just silence. And a cat. It said it was from the Tomoe residence," Ami said with a shrug. Then she paused. _Tomoe. _

"What?" Nephrite asked.

"I think Hotaru's family name is Tomoe," Ami said. "She told me her name when I first met her at the hospital."

Haruka was making an impatient "continue" gesture. "Hotaru was the girl who was attacked on campus that day that we went to your apartment," Ami explained.

"So what you're saying is, your friend got a premonition about destruction while someone tried to contact you from the Tomoe family," Haruka said. "And a member of this family is being targeted by the miko. This didn't strike you as important?"

"I didn't put two and two together until now." It did seem rather obvious.

"Ami, where's your TeletiaS?" Luna's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Under my bed. Why?" Ami answered.

Luna looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "I think you and I should go check out the Tomoe family home tomorrow."

Michiru nodded. "We'll keep an eye out for the girl."

"I think you had better give me a way to contact you," Ami said. "We need to be able to tell each other what's going on."

---

Luna was waiting impatiently by Ami's Honda at eleven a.m., seemingly unaffected by the cold wind blowing the snow between the cars. When Ami spotted her, she jogged the rest of the way over. "Did you get what you wanted?" she asked the catgirl.

"Yup, the perfect disguise." Luna clicked one of the buttons on the borrowed TeletiaS and there was a bright flash. She was now sporting a green, knee-length skirt, a white blouse and a matching sash with a plethora of buttons and badges on it. On top of her peculiar outfit, she had a pink parka with a cat appliqué covering most of the back.

"A Girl Scout?" Ami asked.

"No one will think I'm anything but a normal girl," Luna answered with a grin.

Reaching out to tweak one of Luna's blue pig tails, Ami replied," I don't think anyone will ever mistake you for normal." She unlocked the car and got in. "We only have an hour," she told Luna.

Luna nodded. "All we need is a good view of the outside and maybe a peek at the inside. Don't worry; it will be a piece of cake. We'll just pretend that I'm selling Girl Scout Cookies."

"Do you even know that much English?" Ami asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"No. I'll just be cute and shy, while you do all the talking," Luna said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Do you know where we're going?"

"I've been there before," said Ami.

The next few minutes passed in silence as Ami tried to retrace the route from memory, a task not made any easier by the snow. Finally, they pulled up to a spacious, two story house with a pretentious statuary and topiary garden peeking over the backyard fence. Aside from a few cracked squares of sidewalk, there was nothing that struck Ami as foreboding about the building.

The complete normality seemed to be confusing Luna as well. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"It's where I dropped Hotaru off," Ami replied. "She said it was her house." That didn't, of course, rule out the possibility that Hotaru had lied.

"Oh well," Luna shrugged. "We'll ring the bell and see whose house it is." She scampered out of her seat and skipped up the sidewalk, leaving Ami behind.

Ami swallowed heavily. Ringing a stranger's doorbell was not something she looked forward to. If it were the wrong house, she would just be embarrassed, but what if it was the right house and there was something sinister inside? She repressed a shudder and followed Luna up to the front door.

Luna was cupping one hand to her human ear. "There's someone home," she said before pushing the button. When that didn't bring anyone to the door, she reached for the ornately carved knocker.

"Don't bother, I doubt they'll answer the door." As soon as the words were out of Ami's mouth, the door swung open.

Hotaru stood in the doorframe, completely dressed in her private school uniform, despite the fact it was a Saturday. "Hello Mizuno-sensei," she said in an emotionless voice.

Ami did her best not to let the surprise show in her face. "Hi Hotaru," she responded with false cheer. "This is my cousin Luna. She's selling cookies for her scout troop."

Luna held up a box of cookies she had apparently conjured out of nothing, and smiled brightly.

Hotaru's wide, glassy eyes slid from Ami to Luna and back. "I don't think my daddy wants to buy any cookies." She made no move to invite the shivering duo on her doorstep inside.

"Oh." Ami had no idea what to do next. Luna was still smiling, but the corners of her lips were twitching. She kicked Ami in the shins, further confusing her. "Er...I haven't seen you around the hospital lately," Ami said for lack of anything else to say.

It took a few moments for Hotaru to respond. "I don't do community service anymore." She cocked her head like she was listening to someone. "We're moving away from my school."

"Back to Japan?" Ami asked, but received no response.

After another minute of awkward silence, Hotaru abruptly closed the door in their faces.

"That was weird," Luna said as she tore open the cookie box and chewed a Tag-Along pensively.

Once they were back in the car, Ami rubbed her smarting shins. "What did you kick me for?"

"You didn't see it?" Luna asked.

"Apparently not," Ami said. "Did you have to leave a bruise?"

"The miko's cat!" Luna said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It was sitting in the hall."

"What?" Ami halted in the process of putting on her seatbelt. "We need to go back." She looked back towards the door and caught a glimpse of Hotaru's small face peeking through the window next to it.

"We can't. Not without back up." Luna gave her a stern look.

"We can't just leave her with that thing," Ami protested.

Luna was silent for a minute. "I think Hotaru may be beyond any help we can give her."

"No." Ami insisted. "We have to help her." The memory of what Kunzite had done to her left her colder than the winter air.

"Of course we're going to help her," Luna said sharply. "I'm saying that the two of us can't do anything right now."

Ami drew a deep breath. "We need to tell Nephrite, he can warn the other senshi."

After a brief moment of scrutiny, Luna handed the TeletiaS over. "Tell them to be careful. If the miko also knows who everyone is now, we could be heading into some serious trouble."


	21. Chapter 21

"Mars called," Nephrite announced before Ami was through the apartment door.

Nodding soberly, Ami put her things down on the kitchen counter. She wondered briefly if Michiru had already contacted Rei, but then realized she'd find out soon enough when she called Rei back.

Luna was nowhere in sight, so she dialed Rei's shrine. If Rei had bad news, then she would mostly likely be at the shrine, kneeling in front of her fire.

Rei's voice sounded strained and slightly dazed. "What happened with the girl?" she asked before Ami even finished her greeting.

"So you did talk to Neptune then," Ami said quietly. "It's worse than we thought. It appears that the miko got there first."

Rei's answer was just a sharp intake of breath.

"Rei-chan?" Ami asked after a few tense moments.

"When Neptune told me her vision, I could immediately see it melding with my own. If this girl really is Sailor Saturn, she will bring utter ruin to the planet." Rei swallowed audibly. "We need to stop this miko, now."

"I know, but how?"

"I don't know. Maybe if the other senshi can work together, they will be powerful enough to defeat them."

Ami sighed. "I don't think they're that much of a team. But I can ask them to."

After hanging up with Rei, Ami turned to Nephrite, who was lounging lazily across the futon. "Why did you answer my phone?"

"She called thirty times. In one hour," he replied. "It was making my head ache."

"I'm just glad it wasn't my mother on the line."

Nephrite immediately turned to look her straight in the eyes and asked, "You still haven't said anything about me to her?"

"No, I-" She caught the look in Nephrite's eyes and looked away. "I just can't deal with her making a fuss about you staying here. I've got too much to deal with as it is."

"She's going to find out eventually," he muttered.

"I'll tell her after we stop the coming apocalypse, okay?" Personally, Ami wasn't sure that it wouldn't cause an apocalypse on it's own, but she wasn't going to voice that idea to her boyfriend; at least not while he was looking at her like a wounded puppy.

She peeled off her cardigan and plopped down beside him on the futon, cozying up to his side. "I don't know what to do about Hotaru," she murmured.

"I was thinking that you might want to talk to Kunzite or Zoisite if you really think she's under some kind of mind control," Nephrite said slowly.

Ami involuntarily tensed. Kunzite's name brought up unpleasant memories once again. "I'd rather not…" _At least not by myself._

Nephrite looked at her sideways. "Do you want me to talk to Kunzite?" he asked resignedly.

"Maybe we should try Zoisite first," she offered. Nephrite would probably rather have his kneecaps broken than admit he needed Kunzite's help.

"No. Kunzite really is the one to go to." He reached over and tugged Ami into his lap. "Since it's really for the sake of the planet, he probably won't give me too much trouble."

--

To Nephrite's surprise, Zoisite was not in his music room. He had been hoping to ask his enigmatic comrade if he knew where Kunzite had gone off to. Moreover, it would give him an excuse to stall; Zoisite would want to know what was happening in America as well.

Jadeite was easier to find. He had taken to haunting the arcade run by the same owner as Crown Karaoke and Nephrite checked there first. The blond was standing in the middle of the vast maze of noisy machines, watching two girls play a noisy spin-off game from one of Venus' movies. The game looked about as entertaining as watching grass grow, so he had to assume that the main draw for Jadeite was the two girls themselves.

"Oi, Jadeite-hime."

Jadeite rolled his eyes. "Don't call me that."

"Whatever you say, Princess," Nephrite said, eyeing the girls. "Do you know where Kunzite is?"

"Probably stalking Master. He's gotten really over-protective now that the princess is ready to drop her kid."

"Drop her kid? You make it sound like she's a farm animal." Nephrite shook his head. He wasn't particularly fond of the princess either, but they should show her at least a little respect now that she was their Princess.

A smirk picked at the corner of Jadeite's mouth. "Have you seen her eat? I think she's part cow."

Nephrite smiled slightly at the irreverent comment. "Just don't let her here you say that. Pregnant women can be dangerous."

The younger tennou's eyes lit up. "You would know?"

"Not from personal experience," Nephrite said and cuffed Jadeite on the back of the head. "If you're done gossiping, would you tell me where the prince went?"

"What's in it for me?" Jadeite asked, rubbing at the back of his head theatrically.

"I won't smother you while you sleep?" Nephrite offered.

Jadeite just laughed. "You'll have to do better than that."

"Okay, fine. I won't tell Kunzite about the time that you pissed in his coffee."

"Fair enough. They're at the aquarium," Jadeite said. He watched appreciatively as one of the girls bounced up and down in celebration of beating the high score. "I think Zoi may be with them."

"Okay, thanks," Nephrite said, but Jadeite was too distracted by the girls hugging together and squealing. With a roll of his eyes, Nephrite made his way back through the maze of arcade machines.

He was nearly out the door when he heard a voice call out "Nephikichi-kun!"

Every muscle in his body tensed at once and he calculated the odds of managing to get down the street before he was caught. His eye twitched involuntarily as he slowly turned around.

An impossibly cheery Motoki was coming towards him, mostly buried by the huge stack of paper towels he was carrying. A less enthusiastic Jupiter was following him, equally laden with toilet paper. "Nefurin! I thought you were in America."

"I was," Nephrite said shortly. "I'm here to visit a friend."

Jupiter gave him a questioning look. "Right now, I'm supposed to meet with Endymion at the aquarium," Nephrite added, trying to edge towards the door.

"Ah, so Ami's dealing with things at home on her own then?" Jupiter asked.

"No. She has her new friends," Nephrite said, racking his brain not to alert Motoki. "Although one of them has been acting a little strange lately."

Jupiter's eyebrows shot up. "I hope they can work that out then. I'll have to call Ami-chan and see if there's anything I can do."

"She'd like that." Nephrite shuffled closer towards the door and freedom. "I really have to go now."

Motoki looked like he was going to say something, but a look from Jupiter shut him up and Nephrite escaped into the sunlight.

Endymion and Serenity were indeed at the aquarium, but Kunzite was nowhere in sight. That was no indication as to whether or not he was present, though, and after several moments of feeling for his energy, Nephrite located Kunzite behind a tank full of repulsive looking jellyfish.

He was dressed as a normal twenty-something, although he kept his long hair pulled-back into a loose ponytail at the base of his neck. His circlet was wrapped around his wrist several times, looking like a badly designed bracelet. Zoisite was not with him, though, and Nephrite wondered briefly where his friend had gone.

"I don't suppose you've come to relieve me," Kunzite said dryly, acknowledging Nephrite without looking at him.

"Only if you will do me a favor," Nephrite said.

"That depends on what kind of favor it is," Kunzite responded, still without turning his head.

"It's about the miko problem," Nephrite answered.

Apparently, Kunzite was now interested, because he finally faced Nephrite. The eldest tennou had such heavy bags under his eyes that Nephrite had to force himself to swallow a comment about them. He'd seen Kunzite look healthier after an all-night celebration, than he did now.

"Yes, I know I look like hell warmed over, Kunzite commented, quickly acknowledging the elephant in the room. "The youma have been increasing exponentially in the past two weeks."

"Why aren't Zoisite and Jadeite helping, then?" Nephrite asked.

"They are. Jadeite is watching Jupiter and Zoisite is watching over Mars and Venus." Kunzite began to walk slowly, dropping his voice as they followed their master into the next exhibit. "The attacks are concentrating on the princess and her child."

Nephrite made a small noise of acknowledgement. It seemed the rest of the Shitennou were as busy as he was. "The senshi in America are being targeting as well. We've already lost one."

Kunzite's eyes widened alarmingly. "One of the senshi has been killed?"

"If only," Nephrite grumbled. He took a deep breath before admitting his failure. "It appears that Sailor Saturn may be under the miko's control."

Kunzite swore quietly and glared at the clown fish in the tank next to him, his fingers tapping on the glass, as he seemed to contemplate what to say next. Silently, Nephrite waited for the rebuke he was sure was coming.

Kunzite let out the breath he had been holding, his eyes half hidden in his long bangs. "I knew I should have sent Jadeite to help you."

Nephrite was silent.

"That was too many people for one of us to protect," Kunzite continued. "I had just hoped that the senshi could protect themselves."

A few seconds later, it registered that Kunzite was placing the blame on himself, and Nephrite tried to keep the sigh of relief undetected. "It's not like any of us could have known what would happen," he said diplomatically.

"You wanted me to deal with Saturn, didn't you?" Kunzite said, dismissing Nephrite's comment.

"Yes," Nephrite admitted. "I thought maybe that because you had experience with this sort of thing, you might know how to fix it."

The blue glow from the fish tank made Kunzite appear sickly as he furrowed his brow in thought. "I doubt I can do anything. It was the Princess who healed Mercury, not me." He sighed. "I suppose it's worth a shot."

"If you're not feeling up to it, maybe you shouldn't try." Nephrite winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth. That wasn't how he meant to phrase it.

"Hmph," Kunzite grunted. "How can I retain my smug feeling of superiority of I don't succeed where you can't?" His lips curled upwards into a smirk.

"Have I told you lately that you're a complete bastard?" Nephrite asked only half-jokingly.

"Yes," Kunzite said deadpan. "Do you now where Saturn is?"

"No, but I can give you her address." He dug around in his pocket until he found a crumbled scrap of paper.

Kunzite snatched the paper out of his hand and squinted at it. After a moment, he turned the paper ninety degrees, repeatedly.

"Need your glasses, Grandpa?" Nephrite asked.

"No amount of magnification would make your chicken-scratch legible." Kunzite stuffed the paper into his pocket. "You know you to baby-sit until I get back, right?"

"Yea, yea, I know." Nephrite glanced back at the waddling princess, who looked ready to drop from exhaustion. "This will be a piece of cake."


	22. Chapter 22

Nephrite sighed as the princess sat down to rest for the third time in half an hour. While he had to admit that she looked extremely uncomfortable, it was hard to believe that anyone could be so tired from just existing. He would have wandered off long ago if he hadn't been so concerned over what Kunzite had said about the youma.

Luckily, Endymion was taking the wait with much more patience than he was. He could only hope that Ami would be much less... boring when she was pregnant.

_I haven't even convinced her to sleep with me and already I'm picturing her pregnant._

A glance at the tired couple revealed that the princess was in no condition to go anywhere, anytime soon, so he let his mind wander back to Ami. Maybe she'd reward him for being the messenger to Kunzite. The Heavens knew the two of them were in desperate need of some "alone time" after the complete and utter chaos that was suddenly filling their lives. If Kunzite hadn't been so frank about how much work the other Shitennou had been doing themselves, he might even have asked if one of them could take over his own task for a day or two.

It wasn't that Ami wasn't receptive to his advances, it was more like the universe itself was trying to keep him involuntarily celibate. If it wasn't her job exhausting her to the point that he was worried about her passing out while driving home, it was a youma attack. If it wasn't a youma wreaking havoc, then the miko popped up or another senshi decided to reveal herself. And when all else failed, that damn cat-girl would interfere. Sometimes it felt like the blue-haired nuisance was continually interrupting them on purpose.

He had managed to repress the urge to stuff Luna in a duffel bag and throw her into the harbor. But only barely, and it was only because he knew that her sudden disappearance would upset Ami and he'd have to listen to a long-winded lecture from Kunzite on why causing bodily harm to one's allies was a very bad idea. Hopefully they'd be able to ship the little trouble-maker back to the princess once she had given birth. Preferably bound, gagged, and stuffed into a pet carrier in the baggage compartment of a very round-about flight.

A shrill shriek ripped through the peace and quiet of the exhibit as he enjoyed the mental image, and he immediately looked towards his charges, but they appeared to be just as surprised as he was at the disruption. The princess clung helplessly to Endymion as another scream rang through the aquarium, and Nephrite frantically scanned the room for any indication of what the hell was going on.

There didn't appear to be any trouble in the immediate area, but that didn't mean much when he knew the miko could teleport. A youma might also be searching for them, and he wasn't quite sure where in the maze of corridors and larger exhibit halls they were.

Inside the Aquarium, all three of them were trapped, and Serenity was in no condition to fight or flee on her own. Outside, they could easily be surrounded if there was more than one of whatever was causing the commotion. Somehow Nephrite couldn't imagine that it was just an overly excited patron causing the ruckus. He gritted his teeth. Not knowing what was happening made deciding on a strategy just a matter of guesswork. Endymion seemed just as unsure of what to do, and his wife was growing panicked.

When the screaming became even louder and more pronounced, Nephrite came out of hiding and rapidly strode towards the royal pair. There was no mistaking the screaming now, they weren't shouts of excitement, they were raw shrieks of terror. Endymion smiled wanly as he spotted his guardian. "I thought it was Kunizte following me," he murmured, stroking the princess' long hair.

"He was, but we switched off," Nephrite said tersely. While he spoke, he scanned the room. If they were caught in the exhibit by a youma, the collateral damage would be phenomenal. That much water rushing through such a small space should the tanks break, would be just as dangerous as any youma's attack. "We need to move. Can you carry her?"

"I"m not the heavy." Nephrite was startled by the Princess. Her voice was shaky, but her face was determined.

Endymion nodded resolutely to his wife. "Which way?"

The emergency exit was closer, but they would be harder to single out in the crowd that was probably heading for the main gates. Nephrite chewed his bottom lip and silently wished that Kunzite hadn't agreed to help out Ami. Why was it that he, the least tactically minded of the four of them, kept ending up with the most complex problems?

The royal family was watching him expectantly. "Let's go out the back," he finally said, for lack of a better idea. Hopefully the princess could make it that far without much assistance, and his master would be free to defend himself, should the need arise.

It was slow going, and he couldn't help but watch over his shoulder continuously as they made their way down the dimly lit service passages. They were following the emergency escape route planned by Aquarium, but it seemed that the officials had a different opinion of what was an easy and quick way out of the building than he did. Despite her assurances that she was fine, the princess was grimacing, and every few steps she'd let out a soft squeak. It was incredibly difficult to resist the urge to throw her, swelled belly and all, over her shoulder and make a run for it.

Just as they came to the actual emergency doors, her legs buckled, and Endymion barely caught her before she crashed to the floor. Nephrite stared at her with wide-eyes and prayed that the fine sheen of sweat on her forehead and labored breathing didn't mean what he thought it did.


	23. Chapter 23

When Ami awoke from a nightmare covered in cold sweat, Nephrite was already gone. Luna was still sound asleep on the futon's armrest, so she crept back into the bathroom to try and warm herself in the shower.

She was already running late, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Her mind could only seem to focus on one thing: Hotaru.

Although they had no way to truly confirm it yet, she was positive that the shy girl was Sailor Saturn. It was hard to believe that such a little girl would be capable of wreaking so much destruction, but she had seen the horror that Princess Serenity had done through Usagi's body.

No matter what, they had to stop Hotaru.

A guilty part deep inside of her almost wished that Hotaru was so far taken by the miko that there was none of her former life left. She had seen Usagi struggle with what Serenity had wrought. She had experienced the unbridled horror of realizing that she had maliciously harmed her loved ones. Her own heart ached at the thought of what Hotaru would have to go through.

And yet, the hope that Hotaru wasn't fully brainwashed yet was what kept Ami from wanting to shriek at the heavens that it wasn't fair. So far, Sailor Saturn had not appeared to attack. Surely, if she was so powerful she could destroy nations, killing a few civilians would have been child's play. Maybe the miko couldn't fully control Hotaru yet.

Maybe they still had a chance to save Hotaru before permanent damage was done.

--

Seconds after she collapsed, the princess confirmed Nephrite's worst fears. "I think I need to go to the hospital now," she gasped.

"There's usually hours between the onset of labor and the actual birth, I think. That's what happens on television," Nephrite said hopefully.

"Actually, the contractions started this morning. The nurses told us to come in when they were closer together," Endymion said quietly.

"Oh." Nephrite hadn't a clue as to what to do now. Youma, he knew how to deal with. The birthing process and the internal workings of the female anatomy, however, were a complete mystery. "Um..."

He could kill Kunzite for not telling him about this.

He was very tempted to ask for one of their phones to call Ami and ask for advise. But she had problems of her own, and she would probably insist on jumping on the next flight to Tokyo, which made her vulnerable while she was on the move. Furthermore, that wouldn't help them now, unless she could talk two essentially clueless men through the entire ordeal.

Just as he was about to ask Endymion if he was any more well versed in how to deliver babies in strange places, the lights cut out, leaving the cramped corridor in complete darkness. Seconds later, something started banging and clawing at the double emergency doors, clamoring to get in. No one could mistake those screeching noises for something a human could make.

"Well this is just fabulous," Nephrite grumbled over a distressed squeal from the princess. The pounding on the doors only grew louder, and he unceremoniously grabbed her under the arms and dragged her a few feet back down the hallway.

His stomach dropped as the hinges protested under the battering. Normally he would relish the chance to charge into a free-for-all, but he had two charges to protect and his adrenaline rush was stemming from fear not exhilaration.

"Is there anything to barricade the doors with?" Endymion asked, obviously more clear-headed than his guardian. He grasped Nephrite's arm tightly to keep from getting separated in the dark as they shuffled further away from the protesting doors.

Nephrite barely heard him over the din. "I wasn't paying attention," he admitted. The doors were creaking alarmingly, and near the edges, a tiny sliver of sunlight was visible, although theres was still not enough light to see by.

"What's that humming noise?" Serenity asked, voice rising with each syllable. She clutched at both men as they watched the door warily.

Moments later, she was answered when some of the lights flickered on as the redundant power-system kicked in. Even in the dim light, Nephrite could tell that the battered doors wouldn't keep out whatever wanted in.

He wasn't the only one who came to that conclusion, because the Princess used him as a support to stagger to her feet. Her breaths came in occasional gasps, but she was otherwise steady. With one hand, she fumbled around in her purse until she fished out her cellphone. "We need help," she said grimly.

--

Several desperate phone calls later, the princess finally got through to one of her friends. Nephrite only caught snatches of the conversation as he half-dragged her through the darkened aquarium.

"Yes, I'm at the aquarium."

"Of course I do, I'm having the baby."

"There are what outside?"

"Is he?"

With shaky hands, she snapped the phone shut. "Rei said that Zoisite is on his way."

Endymion breathed a sigh of relief, but Nephrite wasn't as sure about the white-tennou's ability to get them out of the situation. He'd have to fight his way through whatever was outside to even get to them.

When he did arrive, he'd be exhausted; fighting was never his strength and while his magic was strong, it drained him quickly.

It also still didn't deal with the fact that there had been something inside the aquarium that had been making everyone panic. There wasn't the slightest indication that there was any presence nearby, and that was a far larger concern than any outside threats. What if they were retreating directly into a trap?

The only noises were the tank filters and their own footsteps and he couldn't sense any dark energy over the chaotic energy patterns outside. Still, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and his limbs were filled with a nervous energy. They were being hunted for sure, but by whom?

Serenity let out a groan that sounded like a wounded youma and squeezed her husbands arm so hard that he whimpered in pain. Nephrite was certain she was going to collapse again, but after a few deep breaths, she released Endymion. He massaged his forearm ruefully and gave a pleading look to his guardian.

It was the same look Jadeite used to give when trying to weasel his way out of a particularly boring party. Unfortunately, Nephrite knew that his duty was to protect his Master from all harm, life-threatening or not, and he reluctantly offered Serenity his own arm for support again. She leaned heavily on him with each step, but didn't seem inclined to leave the same kind of finger-shaped bruises.

--

"Are you coming with me or not?" Ami asked the plushie on her desk. Although she had her back to Luna, she could see her feline form in the reflection in the window.

"Ami-chan, this is a horrible idea," Luna said seriously, stomping one soft paw. "You know Nephrite wouldn't let you do this if he were here."

"If you're not going to help, then I'm going to go by myself," Ami said adamantly, pointedly ignoring Luna's second statement. She stalked over to the small office window, unable to sit still.

"You can't help Hotaru now, anyway," Luna protested. "If you go to that house again, I'm going to call the others."

"They're not going to stop me," Ami said. "I can't shake this feeling that something is very wrong." She shuddered slightly and wondered if this was how Rei felt when there was a youma nearby. No wonder the miko could be so grumpy when an emergency arose.

"We already know that something is very wrong." Luna's ears flattened in annoyance. "That's why we sent Nephrite to go ask Kunzite about it."

Ami was getting nowhere, fast. "I"m going to go now. I'll be back in an hour." She snatched her purse from the drawer and was halfway out the door before Luna could argue.

With a growl, Luna crossed the floor in two bounds and hopped onto Ami's arm. "This is ridiculous."

--

He was beginning to thing that waiting was far worse than anything a youma could ever do. The Princess was still doing an impression of Queen Metallia's wailing and every second brought them closer to the inevitable birth of the heir to the throne, which was turning out to be a less than joyous occasion.

Endymion's nerves were clearly wearing thin as well. He was absentmindedly stroking his wife's hair, but his foot was tapping impatiently as his eyes continuously scanned the room. "What are we going to do?" he asked again through gritted teeth.

"I don't know," Nephrite hissed back, more annoyed at his own lack of planning than the Prince's questions.

Zoisite must have run into serious trouble, or he'd have arrived already. Kunzite was obviously not coming back anytime soon or he'd have returned. Jadeite, well who knew where Jadeite was. They were supposed to be a team, and here he was, alone, at one of the most important times of the Prince's life, huddled in the corner of an aquarium while something awful stalked the royal family.

"Maybe we should-" Endymion started, but Nephrite cut him off.

"Shush...Do you here that?"

Very faintly, just over the dim hum of the generator, there were footsteps.

_Please be Zoisite. For the love of all that is sacred, please be Zoisite._

--

Ami's stomach was a mess of coiling knots by the time she pulled up to the unassuming Tomoe household. The house fit in so well with the surrounding neighborhood that it was hard for her to even fathom that something wicked may have occurred inside.

Two squirrels chased each other up a tree, startling a cardinal, disturbing the quiet. Luna's eyes tracked the movement as the bird's flight took it across the bright blue sky. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

For a brief moment, Ami's doubts got the better of her, but in the end her concern for Hotaru outweighed any concern for her own safety. "You can still transform. If something happens we'll get out of there and get help."

She climbed out of the car, silently shutting the door as if to keep the house from noticing her presence. As she hesitantly made her way up the front walk, she noticed the one thing that was out of place. The front door was wide open to the crisp air.

--

"It's probably Zoisite," Endymion said, voice filled with false bravado.

"If it is, I hope he knows more about births than we do." Nephrite dug his fingers into his pockets, hoping to find something he could use as a makeshift weapon. He didn't carry a knife, Endymion had forbidden him to, probably fearing for Motoki-baka's life, and everything in the aquarium seemed bolted to the floor.

He glanced over to a bench, wondering if he could pry one of it's legs loose, and was caught completely off-guard by the pair of yellow eyes staring back at him. "Son of a bitch!" He dove at the two-tailed cat, but it leapt nimbly away before he could grab it.

"What was that?" the princess asked.

"We have to catch it before it tells the miko where we are," he grunted and took off after the wretched beast as it darted down one of the hallways.

The cat was making seemingly random turns and he began to consider the idea that the damn thing may well be leading him on a wild-goose chase while the miko attacked the Prince and Princess. Unfortunately, he was now so completely lost that he realized that he probably couldn't find them fast enough if that were the case.

Instinct told him to duck, and he hit the cold tile just as a bolt of energy flew over him, completely destroying a statue of what was once a cartoonish octopus in the middle of the open chamber. He rolled over onto his back, just in time to catch a hakama-clad leg before it caught him in the chest. One pull and the girl lost the footing in her other leg and crashed to the ground.

_At least she isn't attacking the prince._

He reached for the miko's throat, but she drew a dagger from her belt and nearly caught him square in the chest before he hastily threw himself back. Regaining his footing took only a few seconds, but it was enough time for the miko to get to her feet and prepare another energy strike and launch it over his head. At first he thought she just had awful aim, but then he heard the crackling behind him.

Three dolphins watched curiously as the spiderweb of weakening glass began to spread through their observation window.

The miko didn't give him any time to contemplate the new development. The blows came fast and furious, and it was all he could do to defend himself as she came at him like a woman possessed. Finally, he was able to grab her thin wrist, twisting until she dropped her blade. In retaliation, she hooked her foot around his ankle, forcing him to release her as he came down hard on his knee. The pain shot straight through his entire leg and he knew he wouldn't be standing on it anytime soon.

Her knee collided with his temple and his vision darkened at the edges as he shoved her away. Dazed and nauseous, he dropped to his hands and knees, slicing into his palm when it found the dagger's edge beneath him. Her tiny foot connected with his jaw with surprising force and his mouth filled with the

familiar slippery, copper taste of blood.

_Is this little girl going to defeat me?_

A grunt of pain escaped as her instep caught him under the chin, throwing his head back and into a cement pillar.

--

Some part of Ami protested that it wasn't right to enter someone's house uninvited, but she immediately hushed it with the idea that the door was open already. Still, she felt like an intruder as she cautiously stepped into the foyer.

The inside of the house was just as unremarkable as the outside. Winter coats hung on a coat-rack over a small bench. A few family portraits lined the walls, but judging from Hotaru's image, they were several years old. Several more photos followed the modular staircase up to the second floor where she could just see a small bathroom. The lights were off, but there was enough sunlight coming in to see by. All in all, it seemed like a normal, middle-class house.

She swallowed several times, trying to get some moisture back into her mouth. _I'll just have a quick look around before I go._

Luna cocked her head to one side and cupped her hand to her ear. "I think there's something upstairs."

Ami's nodded. With a great deal of effort, she managed to convince her feet to move and she began to climb the wooden stairs, wincing every time they creaked. The photos were laid out newest to oldest, and by the time she got to the last one at the landing, Hotaru was just a baby in her mother's arms. She was still studying it when she noticed that her feet were sticking to the wood. She looked down, and immediately wished she hadn't.

The dark red trail led up the rest of the stairs, and the further it went, the more it glistened wetly. The sunlight streaming into the bathroom and out it's open door did not reach the end of the trail, and her stomach dropped.

Luna's tail was a bottle-brush and she summoned her fan. "I don't like this," she said simply, hands clench around the fan's handle.

Grasping the banister for support, Ami took a step forward, trying to ignore the crimson path in front her. Her feet squelched sickeningly when she put them down as she approached the wet part of the trail.

The sane part of her was screaming for her to run as she started into the darkness, but something far calmer was telling her that she needed to find whatever lay at the end of her current course.

Her fingers fumbled in her purse for her penlight. The tiny light wasn't much, but it was enough.

She choked back bile as her stomach churned despite her medical training and wondered vaguely who was screaming until she realized it was her.

--

His limbs were sluggish with pain, unable to prevent the punishing blows from raining down one after another. His back was against a pillar, stopping his retreat, but he was grateful for the only thing keeping him from falling over completely.

There was a long pause with no new pain, and his hazy vision produced a blurry vision of the miko powering up another blast.

Logically, he knew he should be scared for his life, that the miko could kill him, but death no longer held much terror for him after experiencing it so many times. Instead, all he could feel was a distant worry for the prince, the princess and their unborn child. If he died there, the royal family would be left alone to defend themselves. If he couldn't fear for his own life, then he could at least force himself to fight for theirs.

And Ami-chan. _She'll never forgive herself._ It wouldn't matter that he was sworn to protect Endymion, to the death, if necessary. She would blame herself for sending him to deal with Kunzite.

_What if I never see her again? _There was no Ginzuishou this time. No hope of rebirth. What if death really was forever this time?

He groped blindly in front of him at that sudden thought, and his fingers brushed over the hilt of the dagger just as the miko prepared to let her energy blast loose. He had no idea whether his aim was true or not, because the darkness overcame him just as he heard the glass shattering behind him.

--

Logically, Ami knew that the Shitennou could die, that they bled and broke like any other living thing.

Long ago, she had once watched her lover impale himself on a sword. Had watched his lifeless body with unseeing eyes hit the dry grass and send up a swirl of dust. Somehow that felt different, less final. Perhaps because his body had been taken within minutes, so it looked more like a trick of Beryl's.

This was all too real.

Even at a distance of several feet and with the corpse's short hair plastered to his face with blood she could tell two things: it was most assuredly Kunzite, and he was most assuredly dead. Next to his slit neck, his circlet lay on the floor in a puddle of blood, the chains snapped cleanly on one side.

Contrary to what television liked to show, having your neck slit was not a quick nor easy way to die, as any medical student could tell you. She wondered briefly if he had staggered or was dragged the rest of the way up the stairs.

"He must have been ambushed," Luna said shakily. "Dressed like that, no one would know who he was unless they _knew_ who he was."

Ami tried to voice her agreement, but her mouth was too dry to speak.

Luna nodded and continued, "He's so observant though, I can't imagine him walking unprepared into a trap."

Ami pointed ahead, but Luna ignored her and continued. "Whatever did this was no mindless youma."

"He's moving," Ami said hoarsely.


	24. Chapter 24

If there were two things Nephrite never was, they would be quiet and still.

Even in his most mopey and sullen moods, he was incapable of being fully still. He was always fidgeting or pacing. But here he was, as silent and still as stone. If it wasn't for the quiet beeping of his vitals' monitor, Ami might have sworn he was carved from the same.

The only reason she had been allowed in the room at all was because her mother was the attending physician. Everyone else was turned away for fear of possible infection. Between the surface burns and the puncture woulds there was too much to risk, and even the medical staff kept their contact to a minimum.

Gently, she swept her gloved thumb over his cheek. His face was one of the few areas that escaped relatively unscathed, and it was a stark contrast to the criss-cross of gauze and plaster covering the rest of his now frail seeming body.

_Frail. Add that to the list of things Nephrite shouldn't be._

She couldn't deny that her musing were a bit melodramatic. The wounds weren't anywhere deep enough to be near-fatal and the burns were mostly first-degree. His unconsciousness was partly due to trauma, yes, but also due to the vast quantities of sedatives and painkillers being used to keep him quiet and co-operative. Still, it made her heart wrench to see him laying helpless.

"You should be wearing surgical gear," she murmured as she felt someone materialize behind her.

"I don't plan to get that close." Kunzite's keen eyes scanned the room as she turned to face him, almost afraid of what she'd see.

It was the first time she'd seen him since what she thought had been his corpse had teleported away in front of Luna and herself at the Tomoe residence. He didn't look much better than Nephrite did, even if he was on his feet. He was still pale, almost as white as the bandages around his throat, like his body hadn't even begun to replace the blood he had lost. His civilian clothes hung loosely on his tall frame, making him seem a bit like a scarecrow.

True to his word, he hung back at the edge of the room, as if reluctant to come closer. His eyes seemed to divert themselves immediately when they fell on his companion's prone form. "How is he?" he asked quietly.

Ami sighed. "Not bad, all things considered. Given enough time to heal, he should be good as new."

Kunzite's lips pursed, and for a second she thought he would speak, but he only shook his head. She wanted to ask what he was thinking, but he looked so tired that she merely asked about Zoisite.

"He's fine. He just needs time to recover."

"Don't we all," she sighed, and Kunzite's lip twitched slightly.

"Don't we all," he echoed and then disappeared.

--  
Usagi was her normal, chipper self, blithely chattering on about taking her daughter home. She had named her baby after herself, which Ami found a little odd, but then again, Usagi was often a little odd.

Mamoru held his little girl in his good arm, the other being in a sling (whether it was a battle injury or from his wife was hard to tell.) He seemed to be in as good spirits as his wife, even if he did seem a little overwhelmed by the past twenty-four hours.

Zoisite was dozing peacefully in a chair by the door, although every couple of minutes his head would jerk up and he'd sleepily take in the whole room. Ami wanted to tell him to go "home" and rest, but she'd never get him to do it short of giving him a large dose of sedatives. Despite the fact there had been seemingly no activity since the disaster in the aquarium, both he and Jadeite seemed to be on high alert. Not that she blamed them.

She wanted to ask what exactly had happened, but it hardly seemed appropriate while everyone was still recuperating. As concerned as she was about Nephrite, he wasn't going to die from his wounds, so why demand to know how he got them and upset the tentative peace that seemed to be settling in.

"You want to know what happened," Mamoru said. It wasn't a question.

Ami nodded slightly.

"I can only tell you the first half," he continued. "Zoisite or Nephrite will have to tell you the rest.

We were in the aquarium, waiting until Usako's contractions got stronger. We thought we would be okay since the aquarium is only a short taxi ride from the hospital, but we didn't even consider the idea that the miko would attack us directly.

Nephrite tried to get us out of there, but the building was surrounded by those...creatures. He left us in one of the main exhibits and when to confront that bitch, but...

I never should have let him go."

"Nephrite did exactly what he was trained to do," Zoisite said from his seat in the corner. There was no hint of sleepiness now.

"That doesn't make it any better!" Mamoru insisted. "You shouldn't have to protect me any more. We were supposed to have a happy ending."

Zoisite shrugged and smiled mildly. "The miko is dead. We will all recover. Your daughter is well. What more do you want?"

"Are you absolutely sure the miko is dead?" Ami asked, trying to diffuse the situation. And, frankly, to appease her own desire to know what had happened to Nephrite.

"She had a dagger through her heart," Zoisite reported. "And then she fell on it when she hit the ground. Besides which, the police ordered an autopsy. If the dagger didn't kill her, that definitely will.

How is Nephrite?"

"He's... going to recover."

"I wish I had gotten there sooner. All I could do was damage control." He sighed. "I still want to know what Kunzite was doing at the time."

Ami bit her lip. She wanted to tell him, but perhaps it was better if Kunzite explained it. In fact, she would like to hear Kunzite's explanation as well. Not that people coming back from the dead was an unusual occurrence in her life, but, she'd never seen one of the Shitennou with those kinds of wounds before. "I don't know about Kunzite, but I'm sure the dolphins appreciated your arrival."h

--

Her mother watched her sadly as they ate reheated leftovers at eleven o'clock at night in her mother's quiet apartment. "Ami-chan, are you sure this 'vacation' is alright with your hospital?"

It was hard, but Ami managed to bite back the annoyance that wanted to leak out into her words. "I'm sure mama. This was an emergency."

The look her mother gave her was almost unreadable in the pale light, but Ami knew what the next subject would be anyway. "About this boy..."

"He's hardly a boy, Mama, and his name is Nephrite." The annoyance did seep out into her short reply, and she blushed at the idea of speaking to her mother that way. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to come out like that."

There was an awkward silence as they both fiddled aimlessly with their chopsticks. The luke-warm noodles were suddenly repulsive and Ami pushed the dish away with more force than necessary.

"I don't want to pry, especially at a time like this, Ami, but Nephrite seems to put you in some...dangerous situations."

Ami smiled dryly. "Most of the time I put myself in the dangerous situations. It's Nephrite safety you should be worrying about."

"Ami, these attacks-"

"They've been going on for years, Mama. You remember how it was when I was fourteen and there were all these strange problems here in Tokyo. The government said all those collapsed people was because of a toxic gas, but... well, that's not how it happened."

"Ami-chan..."

"I can't tell you what I know, Mama, but I'm the one that's getting myself into trouble. Nephrite is just trying to protect me." She took a deep breath and tried to squelch the horrible feeling that rose in her chest. "And look at all the good it's done him."

Her mother looked like she was at a complete loss for words.

"I'm so sick of all my friends getting hurt," Ami said bitterly. "Why do all these horrible things happen to us?"


	25. Chapter 25

The day was sunny and warm, with a slight breeze that blew in the hospital vestibule as the traffic went in and out.

Ami knew there was something wrong the moment she set foot in the hospital. It wasn't something she could pinpoint as tipping her off, but the hair rose on the back of her neck as she hurried down the temperature-controlled corridor towards Nephrite's room. The sound of her own footsteps echoing was enough to make her heart beat faster and she broke into a run as she entered the last hallway.

Everything was in order in Room 157, from the neatly made bed to the perfectly arranged curtains, with one minor exception; Nephrite was missing. There was no sign of a struggle, so she tried to calm herself down by telling herself that he had just been transferred unexpectedly. Taking a deep breath, she marched over to the nurse's station to try and get some information.

Although the station was busy with nurses bustling about trying to read the monitors or answering pages, a petite nurse took a moment to talk to her. "No one has been moved this morning, Mizuno-sensei," the nurse politely informed her. "Which patient are you looking for?"

"Who was in Room 157?" Ami asked, rather than answer the question.

"There hasn't been anyone in that bed for a few days," the nurse said.

Ami swallowed loudly. "My mistake then," she said, nodding her thanks. Her heart began to pound in her chest as she walked away. She headed straight out into the bright sunlight of the courtyard and ducked into a quiet corner, where she immediately pulled out her cellphone and dialed a familiar number.

"Moshi, moshi," Usagi answered breathlessly. Ami could hear the sound of a baby crying in the background, partially drowning out the sounds of some children's show. Usagi and Chibi-Usa had been released earlier in the week, and it sounded like the two of them were at home.

"Usagi, has anything strange happened to you?" Ami asked.

"Strange? Not that I-"

"Hello? Usagi-chan?" Ami asked anxiously, but her phone displayed the ended call dialog. She called again, but was diverted straight to Usagi's voicemail.

With a rising sense of dread, she called Rei's phone, hoping the miko was at her temple and not one of the more remote locations she had been training at. Rei picked up on the third ring, much to Ami's relief.

"Rei-chan, have you noticed anything odd recently?" Ami asked.

"Odd?" Rei paused for a moment. "Ami-chan, is that you? I haven't sensed any dark energy, if that's what you're asking."

"I just called Usagi and she hung up suddenly," Ami explained.

"I'm not surprised," Rei said with a laugh. "I can't see Usagi being one of those mothers who has everything under control all the time. She probably dropped the phone and can't find it now."

Ami had to admit Rei was right on that point. Maybe her ditzy friend had just dropped the phone while attempting to prevent some sort of household disaster. Well, more likely it was Usagi who was causing the household disaster. "Maybe. I guess. I'll just try to call her back later," Ami said glumly. "Thanks Rei, sorry to bother you."

She tucked the phone back into her purse and sighed heavily. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but she couldn't shake the nervousness that was twisting up her insides into knots. There was still the question of where Nephrite went. She would have liked to think he wouldn't just leave the hospital without telling her, but the hospital wouldn't just misplace him like a lost file.

She turned to go back inside to question the nurses some more and noticed something odd reflecting beside her head in the perfectly clean glass of the door. She spun around to look behind her, but there was nothing there except for a few smokers at the other side of the courtyard.

--

Her mother's apartment was dark when she entered late in the evening, but that wasn't unusual in the slightest. More often than not, her mother worked into the early hours in the morning and the only evidence that Ami would find of her coming home at all was a tea cup in the sink and a note on the white board. Part of her loved the nostalgia she felt when she checked the board. There was no cheery note on the board tonight, however, just an empty kitchen and a frozen supper to put in the microwave.

Ami read the local newspaper as she ate her reheated meal alone, but there was nothing truly unusual in the headlines. She scanned for medical emergencies, suspected gas leaks, or mysterious happenings in downtown Tokyo, but the search was fruitless. A few thefts occurred, some political news and a thunderstorm predicted for the next day, but that was hardly cause for any concern. Still, she was just worried as she had been in the morning.

She still hadn't been able to locate Nephrite, and her concern was beginning to border on a feeling of resentment. There wasn't any sign of anything going wrong at the hospital no matter how long she searched, so chances were he was okay and had simply not bothered to contact her and tell her he was going to wander off on his own.

One of the other Shitennou should have had enough sense to make him at least call her. Unless he had run off to some place besides the Dark Kingdom, of course. She had thought to call her apartment in New York, but he wouldn't answer the phone anyway, especially not if something on the television had caught his attention. Luna wasn't answering her phone either, but to be honest, Ami wasn't sure that the cat was still in America, anyway.

She stabbed a piece of tofu with her chopsticks and drummed her other fingers on the table. It was unreasonable to be so annoyed, she knew, but she couldn't help it.

--

The drop in temperature was what woke her up. At first she just clutched the blanket tighter to her body, but her bleary eyes noticed a human shaped shadow looming on the opposite wall. Her eyes opened wider in surprise and when she looked around she could just make out a familiar silhouette in the light of the moon streaming through the window.

"Kunzite," she whispered as she sat up and tried to untangle herself from the bedding which seemed to twine itself around itself even more as she struggled. When her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could see he was just as deathly pale as he had been when she saw him in the hospital.

She slowly edged away from him on the bed as he stood like a statue, the moonlight giving him a halo. Even when she had been fully under his power he had never invaded her home and she almost instinctively realized that something was wrong. Her heart was beginning to race as she began panicked, wondering if she could make it out of the apartment before the Shitennou.

Tucking her legs beneath her, she prepared to spring for the door, but Kunzite spoke quietly as if reading her thoughts. "Mercury," he nearly purred. "You won't be able to escape."

_We'll see about that_, she thought grimly and dove for the door. She grabbed the doorknob of the exact moment that Kunzite cold hand caught her wrist and there was a momentary tug-of-war before Kunzite's superior strength won out. As she tumbled backwards she swung wildly, catching her captor in the throat and she drew back a hand covered in already congealing blood.

"What?" she choked out before spinning in Kunzite's grasp. The wound he had received in Hotaru's house had not healed at all and she could see the exposed tendons in the neck twinge as he moved. The burst of adrenaline that followed gave her enough strength to wrench her arm away and she stumbled backwards until her back hit the door. "Stay away from me," she gasped out, pressing herself flat as she groped over her head.

Kunzite merely stepped forward slowly seemingly enjoying her terror, letting her desperately try to turn the knob with her blood covered hand. Finally, the door opened with a lurch and Ami tumbled backwards before staggering to her feet. She didn't bother to look behind her as she ran for the door at the top speed, eyes trained only on the one exit to the apartment.

His footsteps were following her, sounding more heavily than they should have on the carpeted floor. When they stopped she risked a quick glance behind her. Kunzite had stopped several feet away and was watching the apartment door expectantly.

She came to an immediate halt, knowing that anything the Shitennou was anticipating would not bode well for her. Her eyes darted around the room, searching out anything that would help her escape, but there was nothing in the sparsely furnished front room that would serve as a weapon. Behind her, Kunzite was lazily drawing his sword letting it scrape the sheath with a bone-shilling ring.

The front lock clicked, and Ami's eyes immediately jerked back to the door. The door opened several inches, but the bolted chain stopped it before she could see who was behind it. Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, it exploded off its hinges and she had to duck to avoid being bowled over. As she listened to Kunzite split the wood in two, she couldn't stop staring at the doorway.

Hotaru stood awkwardly, her limbs hanging awkwardly as if she were a marionette. Her dark eyes were blank and glossy like a dolls and she seemed to stare straight through Ami. "Come with me?" she said quietly, and Ami understood it wasn't truly a question.


	26. Chapter 26

It felt as if Ami's stomach had been left behind and she staggered sideways after the forced teleport. As she collapsed to the ground, she could hear Nephrite growl something obscene at Kunzite. She swallowed bile and turned her head towards her lover's voice.

The other four former senshi were all present, looking bruised and battered but alive. A pack of the hideous youma she had seen in the supermarket surrounded them, separating them from the other three Shitennou and Mamoru, who looked like he wanted to tear them all limb from limb in order to get to his wife. The one person Ami couldn't see was Chibi-Usa, and her heart leapt into her throat.

But then Kunzite was yanking her hair painfully, dragging her towards her friends and the youma parted to allow them to pass. He tossed her at them like she weighed nothing. Makoto looked like she was going to take a swing at him, but Minako grabbed her arm before she could do something stupid. Further away, Zoisite and Jadeite were attempting to physically restrain Nephrite and failing.

"Don't bother," said a familiar voice, and Ami followed the sound to a third group she hadn't noticed before. Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Pluto were all chained by some form of energy to the floor. Pluto spoke again. "You won't be able to defeat them all, and you'll need your strength."

"Where are we?" Ami asked shakily, taking the hand Rei offered her. When she got to her feet, she took in the surroundings. The walls appeared to be made of stone, but they had an unnatural quality to them. The floor had a glossy appearance, but she knew from experience that it was rough enough to scratch her skin. There was a dais of the same material about fifty feet away, lit by some unseen source.

"Nowhere," said an oily male voice. The miko's cat leapt onto Hotaru's shoulder and smiled at them, double tails twitching in unison. "You are nowhere and no when and soon you will be nobody."

A small part of Ami's mind found it amusing that she was the slightest bit surprised at a talking animal, but the rest of her was horrified by the very sound of its voice. Something about it made her skin crawl and her stomach twist. Perhaps it was the glee she thought she heard as it announced their fate.

The cat landed gracefully on the floor and threaded his way through the youma to climb onto Kunzite's armor. "That's all of you then, isn't it?" he remarked casually, as calmly as if he were taking homeroom attendance. "Now we can get this started without interruption."

"Get what started?" Ami blurted out, half out of curiosity and half to stall for time.

Instead of answering, the cat made an almost human "come here" gesture with his paw and Hotaru dutifully came to stand before him. "Stand on the dais and prepare yourself." His tails quivered with what Ami could only assume was anticipation. "Take me to the senshi," he ordered and Kunzite brought him to the bound guardians.

Uranus was glaring with such furiosity that Ami thought the cat would surely drop dead at any moment. Instead, he seemed to enjoy the rage of the helpless senshi and paused to stretch before jumping down to land at their feet. "I don't suppose I need to explain what it is I want from you."

"No, because we certainly won't give them to you," Uranus spat. "It's not like you could use them anyway."

"Of course I couldn't," he admitted. "That's what Hotaru is for." He looked toward the steps where the young girl was waiting obediently. "And then I won't need them, or any of you, anymore. At least not alive, anyway."

"But why, why are you doing this?" Neptune asked. "Why would you want to destroy the planet?" Her fingers clenched as she pulled against the her bindings. "How could this possibly help you?"

"In case you haven't noticed, human, I control the dead. The Messiah of Ruin will bring death to all with the Holy Grail." He bared his fangs in a twisted sort of smile. "With the Earth in ruins and its inhabitants nothing but a race of corpses I'll have an army millions strong at my disposal."

"What do you need an army for if you've already killed everyone?" Zoisite was unnaturally calm in the face of disaster, a sharp contrast to the other two living Shitennou. Behind him, Nephrite was livid and Jadeite stood glassy-eyed in shock.

"Surely you don't think this is the only planet of consequence in the entire galaxy?" came the nonchalant answer. "This pitiful little ball of dirt and water is just one stepping stone in the sea of stars. But enough chatter. Kunzite, take the talismans. If they don't give them up willingly, cut them out."

Uranus set her face in a mask of defiance as the strongest Shitennou slowly stepped away from the circle of youma and drew his sword. "You can't just take them from us, or cut them out of our hearts," she hissed. "We have to call them willingly."

A hint of Kunzite's former personality appeared in his smirk as he stepped not towards the defiant senshi of wind, but Sailor Neptune. The blade caressed the thin skin of her neck and a line of scarlet appeared above her choker. "Give me the talisman," he ordered, eyeing Uranus.

"Haruka, don't," Neptune pleaded, even as her eyes never left the sword at her throat.

"We have to do something!" Makoto growled. Her fists clenched at her sides and she looked back at Ami and the others. "We have to stop that, that thing!"

Rei's jaw was set in determination. "I can't believe I didn't know it was a nekomata," she said grimly. "If another one of the senshi dies, we'll end up fighting her as well."

Ami nodded, although the knot in her stomach only tightened. The rest of them knew what it was like to have to fight a comrade, and for Haruka or Michiru to have to fight one another... "We can't let this happen."

"How horrible," Usagi whispered. Minako had stepped in front of the former Princess to shield her, but Usagi refused to hide from what was going on. Her eyes were full of tears as she watched Sailor Neptune wince. "They're lovers, aren't they?"

"Yes," Ami said simply. It was very like Usagi to focus on the suffering of people rather than the danger to the planet. She glanced over at Nephrite, who was staring back at her to her surprise. His eyes were bluer than the clearest sky and she knew that the was gathering energy for an attack as well.

"The Shitennou are ready to fight," she mouthed silently at Minako, who nodded back. The other girls wordlessly acknowledged her, and without warning, they each lunged for the nearest youma.

The putrid stench of rotting flesh nearly suffocated her, but Ami refused to stop beating on the youma until it had fallen to the ground. Another of the corpse-like beasts wrapped it's rail-thin arms around her, but she quickly wrenched herself free of its grasp and shoved it into yet another advancing demon. Beside her, Minako sent another youma flying with a single, powerful kick and it skidded to a stop just short of Kunzite and the other senshi.

"Stop playing around!" the nekomata snapped impatiently at Kunzite. His eyes glowed brightly for a moment and even more of the rotting creatures began to appear.

Across the way, Nephrite and Jadeite were making quick work of the youma surrounding them, but more were appearing by the second. They were fighting back to back with Mamoru, who had more of a struggle but was still able to defend himself from the oncoming horde.

Moments later, she heard Kunzite yelp and saw that Sailor Pluto had freed herself and was defending her friends. The key-shaped staff she summoned easily kept the Shitennou at bay with it's long reach, keeping him away from both her and the other senshi as they struggled to free themselves.

Ami could barely hear the nekomata order Hotaru to transform of the wailing of the youma, but she was nearly blinded but the following flash of light as Sailor Saturn made her appearance. For a few seconds, no one seemed to move as the purple suited soldier began to make her way towards the fray, but then a scaly fished smacked Ami across the face and she could no longer pay attention to anything except fighting for her life.


End file.
